City of Dreams.... and trials!

The Gaikwads are back in business. But with hearts grieving for their irreparable losses, the beginning had not been so easy! Rumours prevailed, scandals reigned and the oppositions exploited while media played their own trial games. Recuperating from her severest of losses, as Poornima Gaikwad tries taking the responsibilities of the state she was elected to minister, she also patches up with her father, the bitterest enemy that she had ever needed to fight. But threats were lurking both near and outside her locale. A political party set to destroy her father, a rich media to do the evil reckoning, a dangerous enemy of old set to avenge their loss with the life of Poornima, can she hold the leashes and save her state and her self? With Wasim Khan as her ever trusted friend, Poornima must keep her wits at bay as even though the enemies strike from outside, the internal ills too seek justice. Alliances are negotiated and trusts seem fragile as comrades fall apart while scheming opportunists unite. While the oppositions play the scandal game and arranged for coup, can the disgraced Gaikwads regain their glory and might or is there bigger challenge ahead?

Interesting revelations await for those who see as terrifying surprises will be there in store to shake the faith. Gaining momentum gradually from the rather gloomy start, the sensationally climactic 30 minutes will be a thematic reminder of The Godfather awakenings where desperation plays the pivot and revenge hammers in the needed justice.

Nagesh Kukunoor directs the enigmatic political drama, which is compelling to watch, not only due to its necessarily inherent guilty pleasure, but instead for its contrasting attempt to shift focus partly towards the risky maneuvers of honest politics. Priya Bapat effortlessly continues playing her part as the unwavering and strategic Poornima Gaikwad with superb elegance, humbly supported by Eijaz Khan and Atul Kulkarni, reprising their roles with their fascinatingly deceptive simplicity that augments their characteristically natural smartness. As each season closes and a new one begins, the only thing that remains constant is the signature opening score by Tapas Relia, a melody that is pleasing to the ears yet haunting to the soil, one of my favourites in the series, composed as if to align the mind for the thrill to behold!

Rudra: The Edge of Darkness that blunts quickly and blandly

I always wished to watch Luther. But somehow, the depressed look of Idris Alba on its cover had resisted me starting that. Now, that I watched Rudra, which seems to be completely based on Luther, the status may remain unchanged.

I'm not saying that the series is bad to watch. Infact, thrilling instances abound, the series will keep you interested towards its convergence, but there seems to be lack of interesting twists that makes the theme deceptively bland.

Crimes are committed that are sometimes too violent to be dealt with. But these serve as just the right platter for DCP Rudra Veer Singh, who specialises in nabbing psychopaths and insanely crooked killers. But here, disappointingly, the mystery stops as each time the identities of the peepetrators are revealed and what remains is just a cat and mouse chase between the perpetrator and the police without sufficient detail to clarify the profiling of the killers. Added to this is the family life of Rudra that is portrayed as tensed but again, the detail is only vague. Headed by Deepali Handa, Jt Commissioner, the members of Special Crimes Unit (SCU) deals with dark crimes, but sometimes the setting is too unreal for the metro city of Mumbai and seems more like Gotham with justly impulsive Rudra reflecting, at times, the cop version of the Dark Knight himself. Though promoted already as a super-cop, but sometimes it becomes unrealistic to the extreme. Adventure predominates in the web series and the thrill is retained though the actions sometimes borders the signature Bollywood extreme.

The thriller drama is directed by Rajesh Mapuskar but the thrill seriously compromises the drama. With his debut OTT series, Ajay Devgan excels as the darkly charismatic Rudra but playing the part of his estranged wife, Esha Deol is linguistically stiff and the character casts irritating artificiality in Indian setting. On the other hand, Tarun Gehlot portrays the gradual maturity of PI Prabal Thakur with the monotonous "on it Sir" attitude of the learner in the starting episodes to the responsible decision taking colleague with authenticity. Critical and typical in their assigned portraitures, Ashwini Kalsekar and Atul Kulkarni, being two of my all time favourites, portrays two very interesting and important characters and breathes naturality which was so required in the otherwise fictitious setting.

Culminating in a slight cliffhanger, the series promises more seasons, which we sincerely hope will be better composed while retaining established theme.

City of Dreams.... and nightmares!

The 2^nd season of City of Dreams sees the one time influencer of state politics, Amey Rao Gaikwad, recuperating from his injuries while silently plotting revenge on his daughter, Poornima, who ousted the veteran from his position in a desperate yet justly brutal move that left Amey both devastated and furious. But his comeback seemed to be not so smooth as the determination of Poornima keeps him one step behind at several instances. But for the daughter too, the consolidation of her supreme position seems to be much at risk as her personal life is tottering with a separated husband, estranged son, treacherous ambience, moles, a couple of scandalous secrets and her conscience which is marred with the blood in her hands. Intensely political at its every nook and corner, the season is enjoyable but not like the pilot due to occasional predictive events, absent in the previous season that carefully kept the suspense alive with the surprise twists in several episodes.

As the father tries to garner alliances in the war of wit against the daughter, ethics take a backseat while ambition reigns supreme. Pawns are wiped in the game of chess within the Gaikwad clan while kings and queens make their move towards power. As Amey seeks the help of the sadistically money obsessed criminal, Jagan, the ruthless businessman in Ramnik Bhai targets the daughter, thwarting her honest attempts in advancing the state she represented.

The seekers of truth are prevented from revealing catastrophic secrets through methods, cruel and calculated. Shifting to politics, Wasim Khan aka 'Encounter' Wasim, realizes that he is still a cop at heart while politics might prove a frightening hindrance to his social duties. Pursuing his career in politics, he thus keeps his sleuthing alive, which leads him to darker motives masked behind layers of polish threatening to wipe the targeted few at the cost of the naive many. The episodes are fast paced and the compactness impressive, yet the suspense of the former season seemed to be undeniably amiss in the successor.

Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, this political thriller have twists that take the breath away but its predictive narrative might squeeze some dislikes from the critics though the primary theme as composed by Kukunoor and Rohit Banawlikar is gripping to the end with secondary events perfectly blending with the main. Crisp screenplay by Banwalikar and Kukunoor ensures diplomatic ambience to prevail as does the opening score with the grimly rhythmic yet evilly appealing music by Tapas Relia, keeping the essence of politics musically trimmed as required.

Priya Bapat is magnificent as the firmly gracious Poornima and Eijaz Khan proves to be the equally apt and fittest choice as 'Encounter' Wasim, having a bravely confident heart that harbours a sensitive spirit. While the manipulative Ramnik Bhai is played well by Shishir Sharma, so does Sachin Pilgaonkar in his characterization of the villaneously opportunistic yet naturally insecured political careerist, Jagdish Gurav. However, the sober demeanour of Atul Kulkarni in his portraiture of the charismatic yet sinister Amey steals the show. But two noticeable others deserve special mention, Adinath Kothare as the naively focused Mahesh Arawale being the one. The other is the surprisingly jovial Shriyam Bhagnani playing the wealthy but far from being the pampered daughter in the Mehta household who choose to lead a noble cause without seeking the selfish comfort that her father offers. The character of Tania Mehta evolves in her brilliant of hues and Bhagnani excels in portraying the character that ignores her wealthy inheritance and flabby physique while showcasing her inner beauty and devoted efforts.

The web series, which is currently playing in Disney+ Hotstar, is recommended for the lovers of drama and thrill.