Ali Fazal on Raakh's standout scene: 'It felt like a school punishment'
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Actor Ali Fazal has opened up about one of the most emotionally charged scenes in his recently released streaming series 'Raakh', describing the moment as viscerally reminiscent of being a schoolchild caught breaking rules. The show, which dropped on Prime Video, has drawn widespread praise for Fazal's portrayal of a driven, morally complex cop.
The Scene That Stayed With Him
The sequence in question sees Fazal's character reprimanded by his superiors and ordered to step back from the investigation — a moment the actor says perfectly captures his character's spiralling desperation. Speaking after the show's release alongside co-stars Sonali Bendre, Aamir Bhashir, Ramandeep Yadav, Prosit Roy, Anusha Nandkumar, and Sandeep Sanket, Fazal said the scene required him to stay tightly anchored to the script.
'I tried not to divulge from the script and get it right. I think it was my character's desperation in that moment. As straightforward as that, he is on a mission and he is trying everything in his power and not in his power also to catch the criminals. He is lying through his teeth, and getting his way. But eventually gets caught and benched almost. It's like a little school scene,' the actor said.
Restlessness at the Core of the Character
Fazal elaborated on what drives the emotional intensity of the scene, noting that the proximity to a breakthrough makes the setback all the more painful. 'He is really desperate because he has just been missing these guys by a very small distance. And it's finally converging at that moment. And then you see what happens after that. So, yeah, I think there is restlessness and desperation. And that was the thought,' he added.
This restlessness, he suggested, is the defining quality of his character — a cop who bends rules, cuts corners, and pays a price for it, even as justice remains tantalizingly close.
What Raakh Is About
In 'Raakh', Fazal plays a police officer leading the investigation into the brutal murder of two children in a gripping fictional thriller set in the late 1970s. The series traces a crime that shocks the nation and triggers a nationwide manhunt, exploring the collision between institutional justice and individual obsession.
The show is heavily inspired by the real-life Ranga-Billa case — a notorious kidnapping and extortion of siblings that ended in their brutal murder and became one of India's most chilling criminal episodes. The period setting lends the narrative a raw, procedural tension that contemporary crime dramas rarely achieve.
Reception and Availability
The series has received a strongly positive early response, with Fazal's performance drawing particular attention for its layered restraint. 'Raakh' is currently streaming on Prime Video. With the show finding traction among audiences drawn to crime thrillers rooted in real events, it marks one of the more substantial dramatic outings of Fazal's career to date.