Raktanchal Review: In Ghazipur, 1986, gang-lord Waseem Khan (Nikitin Dheer) is the unofficial king of tender mafia, with his power seeping into politics and government projects. And then something shocking happens. A huge contract is snatched right from under his nose. That was just the beginning of his downfall, as Waseem, who is often unopposed in his reign of tyranny has to fiercely compete to retain all his business, or risk losing them all. Raktanchal: Twitterati Shares Hilarious Memes On Nikitin Dheer's Crime Drama Series.

The new player in his turf is Vijay Singh (Kranti Prakash Jha). Once aiming to be a district collector, Vijay is now an up and rising gangster, whose new existence can be traced back to Waseem himself. Just like all the dictators. As the two try to come up one against each other, a slew of bodies are left in the wake in the resultant bloodshed, treachery and political warfare.

Raktanchal, that is streaming on MX Player, is directed by Ritam Shrivastav. Like Amazon Prime's Mirzapur, the show is indebted a lot to Anurag Kashyap's cult Gangs of Wasseypur films revolving around the ruthlessness of the land and political mafia in Uttar Pradesh. Which also means that it also drives obvious comparisons to the films, that, mostly don't end well for the new show in limelight.

The prime focus is on the hardened rivalry between Waseem and Vijay, with the former being painted more as the villain of the piece. While the show projects them as equal opponents, it is Vijay as a character whose arc is explored more, from his tragic backstory to his rise as the new gang-lord.

Yet, both the characters remain just the same as they were when introduced in the first episode, to the point when they face off each other in the bloody, bullet-ridden finale. There is hardly any growth for both the leads, especially with Waseem suffering more as he remains a hulk with a permanent scowl, and rarely elevates beyond that. The focus is more on the blood-letting and the colourful cuss-words that restricts itself to mostly maa behen gaalis. Where's the innovation, bro?

The intriguing bit about their feud is that Waseem never gets to see Vijay's face till the end, the latter maintaining a cloak of secrecy on his appearance. Which also makes Waseem kind of inept since he has access to every kind of info about his opponent including his home and family, and yet can't procure a photograph of his rival. Even after, in one episode, the police are pasting Wanted posters of Vijay throughout the town. Raktanchal: Kranti Prakash Jha Dedicates His ‘Angry Young Man’ Role in MX Player Show to Amitabh Bachchan.

The initial episodes are mostly about Vijay and Waseem trying to get each other's men tortured or killed, with nothing else happening. There are also references to religious politics. There are frequent chants of Jai Shri Ram. Ayodhya issue is mentioned in a political speech. A corrupt politician Pujari Singh (Ravi Khanvilka_ tries to pass himself as a hero of secularism. And a God-man is shown having the hots for a Bollywood actress. Most of them are, however, played for shock value rather than feel naturally embedded in the plot.

When the monotony of seeing so much red threatens to run the show, comes the best episode of the lot, 'Black Gold'. Vijay gets into Waseem's coal-running business, leaving the latter flustered. I got to learn more about raw and ripe coal more than in my science class, and it marks the entry of the show's best character Sanki (Vikram Kochhar). Manic and violent with a devil-may-care attitude, Sanki is quickly employed in Waseem's inner circle and he becomes an even bigger threat for Vijay. Kochhar, who was also in Sacred Games 2, is fantastic in the role and I am excited to see where the show will take him in the next season (yup, there is going to be one).

Watch the Trailer of Raktanchal here:

With the addition of a wandering couple, Seema (Ronjini Chakraborty) and Katta (Krishna Bisht) into Vijay's gang, Raktanchal becomes much better in the second half of the series. Using Seema as a bait to lure Waseem's strongest lieutenant has its moments, though the show still doesn't try to go beyond a usual gangster-rivalry drama. There is too much focus on the men who are running the show, with the ladies, save for one, are mostly side-piece or item girls.

If the ordinary writing (and lack of memorable dialogues, a must in shows like this) is a bummer, Raktanchal is still worth a binge, because it is fast-paced and doesn't lose much of its momentum.

Speaking about the performances, it is a really good show from Kranti Prakash Jha, whose character is based on Amitabh Bachchan's roles in the angry '80s.  Which makes sense when the show begins with a nod to the poster of Kaalia. Jha brings in ample amount of confidence both in his act and his physicality to match the hulking presence of Dheer. Nikitin, however, is hampered by the weak writing of his characterisation, whose evilness is more told about than seen, and the actor feels too restrained in the limited scope. Apart from Kochhar, other supporting characters get their moments to shine, especially Chittaranjan Tripathy (as Vijay's uncle), Ronjini Chakraborty and Krishna Bisht.

Yay!

- Kochhar and Chakraborty

- Fast-Paced

Nay!

- More Focus on Violence Than Character Building

Final Thoughts

If you have a stomach to digest wanton violence and crude language, then Raktanchal can turn out to be a decent gangster series. It is fast-paced and keeps you invested, but finds it difficult to not be a GOW-clone. All the nine episodes of Raktanchal is streaming on MX Player.

Rating:2.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2020 07:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).