Raman Raghav 2.0 2016

In 2013, Assistant Commissioner of Police Raghavan Amrendra Singh Umbi, a man struggling with addiction, makes a fateful visit to a Mumbai drug dealer. However, his plan to procure drugs is brutally foiled - the dealer and another individual are found murdered. The next day, Raghavan is tasked with investigating the gruesome scene, where he’s left with more questions than answers after receiving an anonymous phone call and a hammer as ominous omens.

Fast-forward to 2015, when Ramanna surrenders to the authorities and confesses to killing nine people. Initially detained and brutally beaten by the police, Ramanna manages to escape with the help of a group of resourceful nearby boys. Seeking solace at the home of his sister Lakshmi, Ramanna becomes embroiled in an argument with his brother-in-law before returning and exacting a deadly revenge on the unsuspecting couple and their son. It’s Raghavan who later arrives on the scene, only to discover a photograph of Ramanna with Lakshmi, irrefutably linking him to the heinous crime.

Behind closed doors, Raghavan is leading a duplicitous life as an abusive partner to Smrutika “Simi” Naidu. His volatile behavior forces Simi into a cycle of coercion and abortions. Meanwhile, Ramanna becomes fixated on Raghavan’s every move, hinting at a sinister connection between the cop and the killer. This fixation soon escalates into a bloody rampage as Ramanna stalks and murders Simi’s maid and her husband. After a brief interlude in which he’s caught by the police but manages to escape once more, Ramanna exacts his final revenge on the man who aided his capture.

As Raghavan’s addiction takes hold, he commits an atrocity of his own when he murders an African drug dealer during a trip to visit his father. His descent into depravity is marked by a series of gruesome events. On a later evening, Raghavan picks up Ankita at a nightclub and brings her back to Simi’s house, only to find himself unable to perform sexually due to his drug use. The mockery that ensues from Ankita prompts a violent outburst from Raghavan, who assaults her in a fit of rage. In a desperate search for his stash of drugs, he fails to find it and instead turns on Simi, striking her with deadly force.

As Ankita cowers in the bathroom, desperately trying to call for help, Raghavan’s coercion and threats silence her. He then proceeds to clear away any incriminating evidence, arranging the scene to frame Ramanna for the murder. In a chilling display of methodical destruction, he retrieves a tire iron similar to Ramanna’s favored weapon and smashes Simi’s head with it. Meanwhile, Ankita manages to escape, leaving Raghavan alone amidst the carnage he has wrought.

As the curtain closes on the previous day’s events, Ramanna presents himself to Raghavan, proclaiming a profound affinity that transcends mere human connection - each individual is, in essence, the long-lost complement of the other. This extraordinary bond, forged through shared experiences and dark secrets, serves as the catalyst for Ramanna’s revelation about his involvement in the gruesome double homicide that marked the beginning of this twisted symbiosis. With unflinching candor, he confesses to one of the brutal killings, while simultaneously disclosing Raghavan’s complicity in the other, precipitating a chain reaction of events that sets Raghavan on the path of relentless surveillance. As Ramanna offers himself up as a sacrificial lamb for Simi’s murder, he proposes a Faustian bargain: his acceptance of responsibility for the crime hinges on Raghavan’s willingness to eliminate the sole eyewitness to their crimes, Ankita. And so, with the weight of their collective guilt bearing down upon them, the two men descend into an abyss of depravity, as evidenced by the gruesome fate that befalls Ankita in her own home - a chilling testament to the depths of malevolence that Raghavan has sunk to, mirroring Ramanna’s own plunge into darkness.