Based on the case of Cyanide Mohan, a serial killer who preyed on young women under the pretext of marriage, “Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas” looks to present a gritty and socially relevant police procedural. The Zee5 original, directed by Akshay Shere, can be termed as the movie version of Amazon Prime’s riveting series “Dahaad,” as they share the same inspiration. Unfortunately, “Bhagwaat” loses its steam halfway and can only be dragged to the finish line by the convincingly fitting performances from its two leads, Arshad Warsi (as the titular police officer Bhagwat) and Jitendra Kumar (TVF’s Jeetu Bhaiya using his simpleton mannerism to the full, raising the creepy quotient high as the serial killer Rajkumar).
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with the case of a missing young girl named Poonam in Uttar Pradesh’s Robertsganj. Initially, Poonam’s family, encouraged by the local Hindu leader, believed a local Muslim boy named Abdul was responsible for their girl’s fate. As a result, with a rightful nod towards the current climate of our country, a Hindu-Muslim riot breaks out. Enter Vishwas Bhagwat (Arshad Warsi), a police officer with integrity and anger issues. One of his recent outbursts had him transferred to Robertsganj. As the new Officer-in-Charge, he immediately digs into the Poonam case.
As Bhagwat looks into the list of potential suspects from Poonam’s call history, the story (screenplay by Bhavini Bheda) introduces ‘Sameer’ (Jitendra Kumar). ‘Sameer’ is not his real name, as we will soon find out. His name is Rajkumar. The story, parallelly, establishes a deceptively sweet love story between this ‘Sameer’ and another young girl named Meera (Ayesha Kaduskar). Although Meera and Sameer’s story continues its endearing facade till the very end (around the halfway mark of the film), Shere and Bheda’s decision to interject this story with Bhagwat’s investigation leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that we are watching the cunningly devilish work of a serial killer.
As we apprehensively anticipate Rajkumar’s strike on Meera, Inspector Bhagwat realizes that Poonam is not the only victim in this case. From Poonam’s call records, he and his team discover a number that could point to the suspect. However, to their shock, they find that the number belongs to another missing girl. Similarly, that missing girl was frequently contacted by a phone number that had been in the name of another girl who had gone missing. Slowly but assuredly, Bhagwat and his team realize that there has been a chain of missing girls all over Uttar Pradesh.
Once the possibility of a serial killer on the prowl arises, Bhagwat’s team starts to look at the right places. They find Poonam and the other girls in the morgue, amidst the unclaimed bodies. A mistake from Rajkumar gives Bhagwat the primary lead. Rajkumar reached out to a woman named Kavita, a single mother, who is not as young as Rajkumar’s usual victims. Kavita did not fall into Rajkumar’s trap but did interact with him frequently. Rajkumar used one of the victims’ phone numbers for this correspondence. As a result, Bhagwat found Kavita’s number in that victim’s call records. With Kavita’s courageous help, Bhagwat lays a trap to catch Rajkumar. Under the protection provided by Bhagwat’s team, Kavita invites Rajkumar to meet. Rajkumar, sensing another opportunity, takes the bait and gets caught.
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
How Did Rajkumar Almost Escape Justice?
The latter half of the story focuses primarily on Bhagwat’s effort to get Rajkumar convicted in the court. However, this proves to be difficult. Rajkumar has two wives, and both seem to be devoted to him. From his second wife’s house, Bhagwat’s team finds Poonam’s jewellery. Although evidences point to Rajkumar stealing the jewellery, it becomes tricky to establish the fact that Rajkumar killed Poonam or the other girls. Now, there is no doubt Rajkumar did this. He has unofficially confessed to Bhagwat, describing how he lured and eloped with these young girls who fell in love with him. We also see this through his story with Meera.
After eloping, he would have sex with them in a hotel. All consensual, as the girls believed that he would marry them afterwards. Then, knowing the girls were vulnerable at that time, Rajkumar would put the fear of unwanted pregnancy in their minds. He would then give them a pill, supposedly a birth control contraceptive one. However, in reality, it would be a cyanide pill. He would do this in a public place, like a bus or train station. The unsuspecting girl would go to the public restroom and take the pill. And then they die, with their body recovered by local police later on.
Rajkumar devised this entire method so that he could present these murders as suicides. He admits to the court that he had a relationship with Poonam. However, he denies killing her. He confesses to rejecting the marriage. The idea he floats in the court is that Poonam killed herself on the face of that rejection. Technically, all Bhagwat’s evidence and witnesses can only establish the fact that Rajkumar was seen with the girl. Since Poonam (and the other girls) takes the medicine on their own, it becomes a challenge to paint Rajkumar as the killer. It soon becomes apparent to Bhagwat that Rajkumar might just face a minor charge of fraud (for eloping and stealing the jewellery) and get away with murder.
What Changed Meera’s Mind?
Rajkumar would have been successful if not for Meera. Once again, Rajkumar’s strong confidence in his method becomes his bane. He mentioned all the lodges and hotels where he took the girls during his unofficial confession. He did not think much of it. Neither did Bhagwat’s team nor Bhagwat himself at first. However, Bhagwat recalls the name “Devlok Lodge,” from which the team has not identified a victim. This was the lodge Rajkumar took Meera to. Bhagwat’s investigation reveals the shocking truth. The truth that even Rajkumar was not aware of. Meera is not dead.
Yes, she did take the pill. However, a personal aversion to any sort of medicinal pill meant Meera only licked the pill and did not swallow it whole. She went into a coma, but she recovered. Bhagwat meets her. Meera, after that traumatic event, changed her name and has a new family now. She is initially reluctant to go to the court, as that would mean revealing her past to her new family.
However, after seeing the photographs of all the victims and remembering her own ordeal at Rajkumar’s hands, she decides to punish him. She realizes it was never her who was at fault. She should never blame herself. It is Rajkumar who needs to be brought to justice. When Meera makes her appearance in the court, Rajkumar is shocked. As Bhagwat smiles, the film ends with the disclaimer that Meera’s testimony helped put Rajkumar behind bars for a life imprisonment term.
Will There Be a Sequel?
With the way the movie is named, it is clear that the makers have plans for further instalments. Arshad Warsi’s dedicated turn as Bhagwat could mean more cases for the titular Inspector. The film has also hinted at Bhagwat’s personal demons. His sister fell prey to one such serial killer named ‘Pandit.’ This Pandit was not caught. A classic way to ensure a comeback for the central character is to have an overarching, long-term villain. This Pandit could be the one. So, there remains a strong possibility that we will see a ‘Chapter Two’ soon.
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