Sony Liv’s Raghu CNG sets up a suspenseful storyline for the audience, only to end up ruining it midway through. Directed and produced by Vishal Vada Vala, the film revolves around a psychopath Raghu played by actor Ethan Wade. The Gujarati-film has a runtime of less than two hours, but getting through the movie still feels like a task.
Raghu CNG, the much-anticipated thriller drama, also stars Sharvari Joshi in the character of Bhumi, Jagjeet Singh Vadher as Dhaval and Chetan Daiya as a Police officer named Ashok. Being a thriller the film seems to have all the elements needed to make it a success, only it does not, reminding us all of how “too many cooks, spoil the broth.”
– Sony Live’s Raghu CNG Review contains mild spoilers –
Raghu CNG: Not that spine-chilling
Being someone who grew up watching classics like, Hitchcock’s Psycho and Fincher’s Se7en, the bar of expectation was set quite high for this film to prove itself. However in hindsight, even if I had set the bar low for this film, it still would not stand out.
Raghu CNG tells the story of a psychopath named Raghu, who does not necessarily always acts like one. Except for the moments when the film gets dull and the director needs the audience’s attention, do we find him doing something gore out of context that can easily pass for a PG-13 rating. Raghu, who is the essential protagonist of this film feels like a side character too often to not be taken seriously by the viewers.
Image Credit: Still from Raghu CNG movie
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The story derails time and again from the theme of being a thriller and turns into a romantic comedy. We find Raghu’s two hostages fall for each other after spending only 4 days in captivation together, where they talk about everything except for how they can escape from the place where they are being held captive. They don’t fight back and are not lit by the desire to escape after being kidnapped. They simply sit, tied back, and enjoy each other’s company which seems absurd given their life and death situation.
The hostages are not only hitting on each other shamelessly in such a dire situation but, there is also a song-sequence of them falling in love while one can expect psychopath Raghu to potentially kill them the very next moment.
The only hope who is supposed to be the police officer on the case is even more clueless than the audience as it takes him the entire film to conclude that the two kidnapped people might have a common factor governing their life. He says cliched dialogues like, “Dal mai kuch kala nahi, puri dal hi kaali hai” every now and then, instead of actually working productively towards the case in hand.
Image Credit: Still from Raghu CNG movie 
Image Credit: Still from Raghu CNG movie
Even the climax is predictable! Even if that is the one thing you would expect Raghu CNG to be unique for, it is a scene copy-pasted right out of any random thriller on the internet.
The only saving grace of this movie is, hands down, Ethan Wade who single-handedly makes the piece watchable. Even Sharvari Joshi does well in her role. Although, Jagjeet Singh Vadher is a let-down, and so is Chetan Daiya. The background score is commendable too.
Raghu CNG: Final Verdict
Raghu CNG tries really hard to check in all the boxes required for the story of a psychopath and impress the audience. However, it tries so hard that it ends up becoming a miss.
Raghu CNG is now streaming on Sony Liv.
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