‘P.I. Meena’: Cast & Crew
Director: Debaloy Bhattacharya
Cast: Tanya Maniktala, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Vinay Pathak, Zarina Wahab, Saurav Das, Sawon Chakraborty, Harsh Chhaya, Aman, Jisshu Sengupta, Samir Soni, Aditya Banerjee, Anindya Banerjee, Suvajit Kar, Sujan Mukherjee, Chandrayee Ghosh, Denzil Smith, Vipin Sharma
Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Duration: 8 Episodes, Around 40 Minutes Each
‘P.I. Meena’: Story
A young, troubled, female private investigator (Tanya Maniktala) gets thrown into a world, where she has to fathom the unfathomable and find her own self. Will she be able to come out of this mess? Will she be able to uncover some deep dark secrets? Will some government skeletons be thrown out of the cupboard? Well, for all that you’ll have to watch ‘P.I. Meena’.
‘P.I. Meena’: Performances
Tanya Maniktala is slowly and steadily starting to become one of the most dependable performers in the OTT space. While the character of the private detective isn’t too difficult, but the way in which Maniktala breezes through it makes it look oh-so-smooth. She is not Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot or Feluda, but her innate sense of gut feeling is what makes the character look so powerful.
Parambrata Chattopadhyay has once again come up with a character which is so relatable to him. However, what’s a little annoying is that he is slowly starting to get stereotyped in such roles when it comes to Hindi cinema. He has done similar characters in quite a few web series where his character keeps you guessing till the very end as to whether or not he is involved in the scheme of things or is just a bystander.
Harsh Chhaya, Vipin Sharma and Jisshu Sengupta have lesser screentime, but they leave an impact on the storyline with their performance.
Stellar performers like Vinay Pathak, Zarina Wahab, and Denzil Smith have been utterly wasted in parts that are so small that they’re barely there.
Samir Soni in a blink-and-miss role wasn’t required at all. That character could have been played by any other junior artist.
‘P.I. Meena’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects
The cinematography by Indra Marick is undoubtedly the best part about ‘P.I. Meena’. The way Indra Marick has shot the locales of northern West Bengal makes you feel like you are part of the story. Not just that, even in the parts that he’s shot in Kolkata, he makes you feel like you’re walking on the myriad lanes and bylanes of the city of joy. Giving the story that feeling makes you so involved in what’s happening, and you start putting your own detective cap and making your own guesses.
Ronak Kamat, Arindam Mitra, and Vipin Sharma’s writing is also very engaging. They ensure that they give all the trademark tropes of a good detective story to ‘P.I. Meena’. The numerous twists and turns help you remain hooked on the plot of the story. However, there were a few episodes where some situations seemed unnecessary to the larger plot of the story, and it felt like they could have been chopped altogether.
Sourabh Prabhudesai’s editing is to be blamed in such places. The episodes could have been a lot crisper. Many of the episodes which have been dragged to almost 40-45 minutes could have been cramped and fit into 30-35 minutes. That way, even an 8-episodic show wouldn’t have felt too long to watch.
Debaloy Bhattacharya’s direction undoubtedly is fresh and he manages to bring a great new perspective to detective stories. He manages to take inspiration from Feluda and Sherlock Holmes and combine those numerous tricks of the trade, which makes you, as a viewer, feel occupied in the proceedings. It’s so good to be able to get your audience engaged that they’re not willing to leave their seats and go for a bathroom break.
‘P.I. Meena’: Can Kids Watch It?
Yes
Outlook’s Verdict
If you’re looking for a great detective story, ‘P.I. Meena’ isn’t the answer. However, it’s a different approach to a detective story, and that fresh approach is what’s applaud-worthy. Not to forget the brilliant cinematography makes you want to just immerse yourself in the story and continue to be a part of it throughout. Overall, it’s a Breezy One Time Watch. I am going with 3 stars.
