In Raakh, Jayprakash, aka JP (Ali Fazal), is a quintessential cop protagonist in many ways, yet not in others. He is sincere, determined, and ambitious. Yet, besides being pulled down by the system in a classic underdog route, JP has his own demons to deal with. During the promotions for the series, Ali spoke about how he consciously wanted to keep Jayprakash away from a conventional cop figure that we usually see in films and TV shows. Explaining his process of building the character, Ali says, “It is so easy to bring in that macho thing. I could have filled it in despite what the script was like. Fortunately, we had lovely discussions throughout the period where we were reading and grasping Jayprakash’s status in society, and the hierarchy of it."
Talking about playing a cop, Ali reflects, “It is high time people get acquainted with the human beings within those uniforms. We are often conditioned to be wary of them. It shouldn’t be that way. I think it is also important for many cops to realise that they are probably suppressing a lot of their human side because of the system they are living in.” When we ask what the most relatable aspect of JP was, Ali says, “It was how someone is constantly reminded, in very subtle ways, of who they are, their status in society.”
Raakh also marks a major shift for Sonali Bendre, who plays Mona, a bereaved mother whose journey through all stages of grief makes for some of the most heart-wrenching moments of the show. It is also her first fiction project since The Broken News (2022). When we ask her the reasons for being selective, Sonali quietly chuckles and says, “I have not consciously been selective, but rather forced to be selective. I feel I am at a crux where I don’t know how I fit in. I have done what I have done, and I want to move on. I don’t want to be stuck in the same way, because I have grown as a person since, lived a life, and have many more stories I can share. I want my work journey to portray that.”
Talking about why she signed on for Raakh, Sonali explains, “There have been times in the past when things began on an amazing note, but never got translated. As time goes by, you realise how difficult and rare it is to get a team that can translate what they say, have the sensitivity to bring in finer nuances, and stick to it throughout. Just to see that happen in Raakh is an achievement, and I am glad to be a part of it. Also, once I read the script, I knew I did not want anybody else to play Mona.”
It also feels like a conscious aberration, the way director Prosit Roy uses silences in Raakh. Alongside the unsettling events on screen and Delhi as an eerie presence, silence too becomes a character, something to be wary of. Prosit says, “We chose a certain rhythm because of the kind of storytelling we adapted through our visuals. With the stories unfolding in two timelines and actors performing a certain way, we chose that route to do justice to it.” Further reflecting on his love for silence, he adds, “I have always felt that silences are more powerful than words, and the script here (by Anusha Nandakumar and Sandeep Saket) had so much opportunity for it that I immediately grabbed it.”
Prosit began his filmmaking career with Pari (2018), which remains one of the most memorable horror films of the past decade. His next, Paatal Lok S1 (2020), too, had elements of horror. We ask him why Hindi cinema is in the back seat when it comes to horror movies, especially since American cinema has delivered huge hits (Obsession, Backrooms, Longlegs, Weapons) in the past 2 years, exploring the genre. Prosit responds, “We don't attempt genre filmmaking too much. We always dilute horror with comedy, fantasy, and other genres; we never stay pure to the genre. That is the reason we don't get to see so much pure horror.” Talking about Raakh and how it too incorporates the genre, Prosit adds, “What we tried out here is real horror, the horror of reality, and that, in my book, is scarier than any other kind of horror.”