Rautu Ka Raaz, which has released today on Zee5, is the story of a cop investigating a murder in a sleepy Uttarakhand town. The murder mystery stands out as it's set in a blind school. The characters are well fleshed out and the viewers will constantly wonder who's the murderer. The climax is unpredictable. On the flipside, there are too many characters and it becomes difficult to remember all of them and their possible motives. The suspense, though unexpected, also raises questions. The film also seems lengthy though it's just 113 minutes long. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, as always, rocks the show. Rajesh Kumar is on a roll. Just last week, he impressed in Kota Factory and he continues with his great work in this film. Narayani Shastri doesn’t have much screen time but she does very well. Atul Tiwari (Manoj Keshri), Samridhi Chandola (Lata; cop), Preeti Sood (Hema; assistant warden), Gautam Sharma (Trijugi), Anil Rastogi (Home Minister Adhikari), Parimal Aloke (Govind; molester), Pratham Rathod (Rajat; blind student) and Drishti Gaba (Diya; blind student) leave a huge mark. Amit Kumar Sinha (watchman) is aptly cast. Riya Sisodiya (Natasha; music teacher) has a nice screen presence but one wishes she had more to contribute. All in all, Rautu Ka Raaz is an average film.

My rating - ** ½ out of 5!