Genre: Crime Thriller
Platform: Netflix
Time : 7 episodes x 45 minutes each
Writer Director: Neeraj Pandey
Cast: Emran Hashmi (Arjun Meena ). Sharad Kelkar (Bada Choudhary) . Anurag Sinha (Prakash Kumar). Zoya Afroz (Priya Khubchandani). Nandish Singh Sandhu (Ravinder Gujjar). Amruta Khanvilkar (Mitali Kamath).
Plot: Due to Parliamentary questions about smuggling at Indian airports, a new task force commanded by Prakash Kumar is established. Kumar demands his boss that three honest Customs officers, Arjun Meena, Ravinder Gujjar, Mitali Kamath, be brought back into his task force as he believes no one can be as clean and honest as the trio. The trio have their own personal issues especially Gujjar, whose entire family is corrupt , while he is the only honest one. Their job is to prevent the network established by Bada Choudhary, who uses multiple means to flood Mumbai International Airport, to continue his activities, while “taking care” of the current bunch of corrupt officers who keep him posted of the developments. It is a battle between Choudhary and the Customs officers …
Neeraj Pandey is one writer director who understands the intelligence world well, be it police or external intelligence agencies like R&AW. Usually there are some odd ‘filmy’ moments in most of his films / TV series that you are just about to question but then forget due to the superfast pace of the writing and editing that leaves you with an edge of the seat moment. In this case there are many such moments in the series ; yet we feel that things can’t be this easy .
As in the case of Priya who is Arjun’s informer . Her entry into the Choudhary gang seems too easy and too contrived. Surely such an impressive “successful” smuggling network will be far more cautious about admitting any new member. The penalty for being caught is shown in a scene where Bada Choudhary uses the head of a white informer , as a golf ball. However there are no time for such reflections as we get fascinated by how she gets information on all the activities of the network and their multiple efforts to literally flood Mumbai airport.
What works is the well-researched background to the various smuggling stories by rank amateurs – the marmosets being one example – and an established ‘professional’ network , pointing to some deep research and of course surely some ex-Customs officer consulting on the series, lending an air of authenticity, especially the syntax of the officers. The international locations also give that ‘exotic’ ‘Bond like’ feeling that is common to most Neeraj Pandey’s works.
This is partly a spy thriller and partly a crime drama. In fact , this is more a spy thriller as the informer Priya is infiltrated into the gang and she goes about collecting information about the network. (No spoilers here : happens in the second episode). This is where there is some amount of unreality as Priya does it as if she is on some picnic while a real life informant would be terrified for his/ her own life (that happens much later – once she is safe. Like I said, filmy).
The characters all come across as somewhat two dimensional like a Bond movie – heroes or villains. Yet all the actors give competent performances and make the overall proceedings interesting. As with most of Pandey’s past projects , this is a stylish, fast paced series that leaves you thoroughly enjoying the onscreen proceedings and believing that there are still some honest folks out there.
Script – 4 out of 5
Story – 4 out of 5
Direction – 5 out of 5
Photography – 4 out of 5
Total – 4.3 out of 5
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!