By Princy Jain
This one is not for the fainthearted. At once it may look like another cop-thriller with expected twists and turns, but the very first episode alienates it from the running content on OTT.
Set in the city of Mumbai, the show, which is an adaption of BBC’s Luther, marks Ajay Devgn’s debut on the OTT platform. The five-part series opens with a case, where Rudra is seen fighting with certain Mandar Naik on the top of an under-construction building. Absolutely wrenched by the severity of crime, Rudra, supersedes the law and let Mandar’s fate be decided right there. And this sets the tone for Rudra’s character. He is not your conventional cop. With a mind of a criminal, and a messed up personal life, Rudra is a valiant, eccentric but truthful cop.
Next, we see, Aliyah Choksi, played by Raashi Khanna, crying over the brutal murder of her parents and her dog. Rudra, who is just emerged from his decrepit past, decodes the real murderer. Of course, Aliyah will have more sequences in the script than just being one episode wonder. She is shown as a child protégé who cannot be interrogated on just whim-and-fancies. She is heavenly drawn to Rudra and makes no effort at all to hide it. However, it is difficult to conclude whether both of them will have any concrete relation or she will just continue to dart in and out of stories.
In each episode, we will see more preposterous crime. Each story has at least one heart-numbing moment. Be it the soldier who kills Mumbai Police officials at the behest of his dad or the satanist who writes scriptures in blood in the houses of his victims.
The series marks a comeback of actress Esha Deol as Rudra’s estranged wife. She plays her part well but looks congealed. Atul Kulkarni plays well as Rudra’s well-wishing ally, Ashwini Kalsekar looks efficient as the boss of the unit, Milind Gunaji and Ashish Vidyarthi are good for their part. The series rides high on production esthetics. With clever camera works and background score, it’s fresh content on the OTT platform.
I particularly liked the title track sung by Ananya Birla, eldest born to the industrialist, Kumar Mangalam Birla she is a globally acclaimed singer & very successful businesswoman too.
Though I have one point to raise, is it really required to show such crime on screen? For whatever reason!