Intelligent, witty, high production standards and everything else, brilliant…..

4.5/05 – 09/10.

I was not hoping much of this series, as similar of its kind, ‘The Family Man’ and ‘Bard of Blood’, both were disaster and were not at par with the expectations of viewers and not in rhythm with general emotions. But so far, for this one, season 01 seems to hold. This one does not seem to make the mistake that the others made. Other two had high production standards and great visuals, but the direction and story, was either biased or weak. Here, it does not look so.

Hotstar is streaming in high quality. So visuals are great. No doubt. But there is a serious issue with sound, and dialogues are not at all audible in many scenes. Especially in the scene when Himmat interviews Kasab, the sound was almost zero. Such a low quality. Amazon, on the other hand streams in Dolby Digital. No issue there. And with my previous experiences with Hotstar customer care, I know they will not listen. So don’t waste your time there. I sent a complaint via mail, and all they do is send a routine robot reply, asking for details and re install the app…..Be advised, once you pay, Hotstar will not listen to you like Amazon. Hotstar has a lot to improve. That was a bit off the track….

The most refreshing, prominent and brilliant aspect of the series, is casting. Kay Kay, was obvious choice. He is a veteran actor and has proved himself number of times, and here also, he is not only brilliant, but he subtly shoulders the entire series on his shoulders. Full marks for Mr Menon.
Sana Khan, Saiyami Kher, Vinay Pathak, Karan Tacker…..characters keep on entering the frames without much adieu….Sana and Saiyami are good eye candies, and just when you think you had it all, you see fresh face of Tanaya Sachdeva. Tanaya, well I am not familiar with her previous works, but she is probably the most refreshing face of the series. Sana still looks good after that unnecessary plastic surgery…I will give her at least that. From Amul sexy ads to Silk Smita to Hotstar….the journey has been long for her. She deserves marks for that one. Casting of other characters, is also done well, and though they are not known actors, their personalities fit into character. And that is only thing that counts.

Fight scenes are a bit slow, and background score is weak. But that is ok. The camera is dynamic, and scenic visuals from round the world will keep you glued. Series opens with an inquiry scene, that sort of works as a narration. Like ‘True Detective’. These scenes are light, and helps change of mood. The scenes of attack on our parliament and interview with Kasab, are shot with responsibility and so far, try to give a true version of what happened….in the end, it is Kay Kay and Neeraj Pandey, who holds the entire series. Eight hours is a long time, and a little mistake, will make the viewer push the pause button, and just leave. Full marks for Mr Pandey and Mr Menon. I am not familiar with other works of all the producers, but their work and hard work shows here. Vivid and dynamic visuals, shot with drones say much about the production standard, which is high….

Go for it…!

Review by Alex Breganza.