Director: Soumik Sen
Cast: Mallika Sherawat, Esha Gupta, Gautam Rode
Platform: MX Player
Formulas have always been the flavor of the season when it comes to Hindi content. The newly released web-series, Nakaab, tries to cash in on the on-going socio-political content by devising a murder mystery around the death of a TV star and the following debate, if it’s a suicide or a murder. The first episode is more of a build up to the drama that’s going to unfold in the coming episodes with the entire cast of the daily soap that the TV star is a part of, coming under the eyes of the law.
The first episode is full of cliches – the powerful using their power to close the case, a junior level cop planning to run a parallel investigation going against the norm, a backstory to the TV star and of course, the dirty world of showbiz. While the narrative is in the thriller mode, the screenplay is predictable from the word go. The dialogues are tacky – be prepared for lines like “Yeh Breaking News Nai, Heart Breaking news hai”. There is nothing much to say about the cinematography.
Talking about the performances, Mallika Sherawat makes a brief appearance in the first episode as a business tycoon, Zohra Mehra, and doesn’t get any scope to perform in the five-minute screen time. However, she carries her personality with ample confidence. Esha Gupta is in good form as a sub inspector Aditi Amre, and gets the scope to perform due to the multi-dimensional character of a housewife and cop on the go. Gautam Rode as senior officer too leaves a mark and wins over with his intensity. The rest of the ensemble cast is just about decent.
All said and done, the makers play up on the current socio-political scenario to weave a thriller that debates if the death of a popular TV star is a suicide or a murder. It might interest some audience in the interiors of India, but for the rest, it will end up being just another series in the web world.
