Director
Tanuj Chopra
Cast
Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Sanjay Bishnoi, Swati Bhatia, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Denzil Smith, Yashaswini Dayama, Avijit Dutt, Gopal Dutt, Tillotama Shome, Jatin Goswami
What’s The Story
DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah) spearheads another crucial investigation to save Delhi and its senior citizens from a gang of killers called the Kachcha Baniyaan Gang. The Delhi Police is now searching for a serial killer gang even as they struggle with a staffing shortfall and an increase in crime. Will they be able to catch the culprits before another serial killing happens in the Indian national capital? Will Chaturvedi be able to hold her position? Will she get fired in the pursuit? Or does she become a victim of the serial killer? Well, you’ll have to watch the show to find out.
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What’s Good
Tillotama Shome And Shefali Shah Steal The Show
Tillotama Shome may have come onscreen only after an initial couple of episodes are done away with, but she absolutely steals the scene from the very first instant. Whether it’s opening up a car door or putting on a hoodie, her craziness is evident even in the little things she does. On the exterior, she exudes this cool and calm vibe but when poked in the wrong way, her craziness comes out biting everyone on the way.
Shefali Shah is back to taking the entire weight of the Delhi Police on her shoulders. She is without a doubt the best-selling point of the show. Not only is she the ruthless DCP who wouldn’t tolerate bribery or any wrongdoings in any way, but at the same time, she bows down to the hierarchy of the system and shows her vulnerable side as well. A welcome change to see a cop who not only believes to be on the right side of the law but also puts herself in the line of fire for the same.
The collaborative writing of the show by Virat Basoya, Ensia Mirza, Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh, Shubhra Swarup, Mayank Tewari, and Vidit Tripathi is another highlight of the show. Despite the fact that there were different writers for every episode, none of the episodes looks out of place. They all come together as a string of pearls telling one shining story. The basing of the show on real-life incidents makes the fun of the story even more, and these writers have ensured that you don’t get to realise which parts are actually real and which are purely fictional added for just cinematic effect. Really smooth.
While the first season ran to 7 episodes, the editing of this season is spot on. Even though the episodes are of varying lengths, at no point does the show lag and make you want to leave.
David Bolen’s cinematography is pure magic. Brings forth the lanes and by lanes of suburban Delhi with so much depth. Shooting in some of the most crowded areas of Delhi and yet not compromising on the quality of the shot is indeed a praiseworthy effort. He has managed to capture the thrilling chase sequences and the colloquial police attitude with great fervour. Also managing to bring in an apt feel to the characters, however small they may have been onscreen.
What’s Bad
More English After The Emmy Win
We have to agree that the Delhi Police doesn’t talk in chaste English throughout the day. In the first season, the dialect was much more natural to the Delhi Police, but in this season, after an International Emmy Win, it seems the makers of the show decided to press for more dialogues in English. Probably thought that it might be easier for the Emmy jury to watch the show this time over. Not sure of the reason, but the officers of the Delhi police speaking such good English for almost 50 per cent of their dialogues is just too hard to digest.
Rasika Dugal is a big star in the OTT space. However, she barely has lines throughout the show. An unnecessary sequence with her husband just kept dragging her character all through the season. It could have been easily avoided, and her character could have been given more meaningful dialogues. Her character arc could have been that of a cop that makes a difference to the storyline rather than just be around like any other regular cop. She was more like a junior artiste just who was just there.
Many of the other character artists also didn’t get enough screen time. Some characters just vanished midway never to return. The character of the retired police officer who knew the tribals well didn’t appear for any redemption after being insulted and thrown out of the police station. The two boys who were the first suspects of the Delhi Police, came back to confess but never returned after that. They could have been brought back to help out the cops in the investigation, so as to show that the tribes are actually not all that bad. The advocate’s character, played by Danish Husain, comes in as a fiery force of nature, and after his clients get relief from the cops, he just vanishes never to return again throughout the entirety of the show. Then there is this old grandmother, of one of the main criminals, who is full of fire when she comes onscreen with her abuses and harsh words. But she too suddenly vanishes. There definitely could have been a closure given to the character in the form of getting her to divert that anger towards her own grandson’s wrongdoings.
Then the tension between the mother-daughter (Shefali Shah and Yashaswini Dayama) very suddenly changes to being confidantes of each other. How did that change happen? That entire angle of the mother-daughter seemed, kind of, forced. Probably just kept low-lying just so that the angle could be explored in the subsequent seasons.
Lastly, the direction by Tanuj Chopra has the feel of someone who’s looking at things from the outside, and not as someone who has an in-depth knowledge of the entire police proceedings. That outsider feeling keeps coming up at various nuances. The entire decision of keeping more than half of the dialogues in English was one of the prime examples of the same.
Verdict
A little bit less in English and a bit more thrills could have made this even more of a delight to watch. The first season is still maybe better than this, but this season is not too far behind. It’s indeed a Must Watch, and more so for the brilliance of Tillotama Shome and Shefali Shah. I am going with 3.5 stars.
