It isn’t an easy watch, but the dark and disturbing cop thriller ‘Paatal Lok’ reels you in with its warped, wicked appeal. The violence will make you wince and its unwillingness to sanitise India or gloss over its deep caste, class and religious divides strikes where it hurts.
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00:00Good afternoon, this is Manjusha from Gulf News, and this weekend,
00:03I saw the absolutely riveting and terrifying crime series called Paatal Lok.
00:14It stars Jaideep Allawat, Neeraj Kabhi, and a clutch of very talented actors.
00:19It's a nine-episode series that released on Amazon Prime,
00:23and it takes you into the world of Inspector Khatiram Chaudhary, played by Jaideep.
00:29You know him from Raazi, Gangs of Hasekpur, and he's one of the most talented actors.
00:33And this is his really breakout role, and he does full justice to it.
00:38You have Inspector Khatiram Chaudhary, who's like this odd-bellied cop, he's down on his luck,
00:44he's swimming in mediocrity. One day, he gets tasked with this very high-profile case,
00:49where he has to solve the case of four assassins trying to murder a very high-profile journalist,
00:57played by Neeraj Kabhi. It's based on Tarun Tejpal's former editor of Telka,
01:04who was tainted, who was accused of sexual misconduct and rape charges, who's now out on
01:10bail. It's based on his book called The Story of Assassins. However, he was not involved in
01:15the series at all, according to Amazon Prime. However, it's a very dark and disturbing thriller.
01:21It's not very easy to watch this series, honestly, because there are times when you
01:26need to take a break, because there is plenty of violence, there is blood, there's gore,
01:31and the backstories of the assassins is very, very disturbing. It takes you into both the
01:38dirt and grime of the current India, both in the urban and the rural villages. So,
01:45what you have is a very unsanitized, deep and dark web thriller. And what you love about it
01:53is also the performances. I mean, you look at Jaideep as Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary,
01:58he just reels you in with his very wicked and warped act. Here is a cop who knows that he
02:04isn't very good at his job. He has not got the promotion that he perhaps deserves, or did not
02:09play his political games right in his office. But suddenly, he's got this chance to redeem himself.
02:16And you see this cop who fights against the system, within the system, and tries to solve
02:22the case. It's one of the few series that also does not pull back when it comes to showing India
02:30in a not so flattering light. I mean, it deals with child abuse, it deals with the Islamophobia,
02:37it deals with how even minority cops who are Muslims are not given the same treatment,
02:42were treated like secondary class citizens in India. These are issues that are usually
02:48not addressed in web series. But then to have the kind of time and the depth to delve into it
02:54and give it the right spin, I think Anushka Sharma, who produces the series has done a great job.
03:00It's directed by Prasit Roy and Avinash Arun, who have done such a tremendous job of bringing
03:06together a clutch of very talented actors and giving us a very wicked tale. I mean,
03:12it's not easy to watch. Like I said, I had to take a few breaks in between the episodes
03:16so that I could just absorb it. However, it's also perfect for a binge watch if you're really
03:22into a series that does not glorify all these all-conquering heroes. Here, you have a series
03:29that, you know, that throws its spotlight on a central character who is jaded, who's cynical,
03:36who somehow is not on top of his game. I mean, it's such a departure of sorts from the usual
03:41Bollywood heroes who are indestructible, who are larger than life, who are like Salman Khan in,
03:45like, say, the Bang series. Here, you have a very dark series, and that's what I really enjoyed
03:50about it. Another part that I really liked are, like, the backstories of the anti-heroes. It's
03:56not just the cops who are given. There's also a nexus between the politicians, the paid serial
04:01killers. What are their backstories? What leads these criminals to do such terrible acts against
04:06humankind? That's also the kind of psychology that goes into it was also delved into. The
04:11backstories are very disturbing. There will be times when you don't know where this particular
04:15series is headed. Where is the case heading? There are so many texts and subtexts and sub-layers that
04:21you're often confused. And even the political nexus between the criminals, the politicians,
04:27their game of power, the caste politics, the Islamophobia, etc. may get a bit too dense and a
04:33bit too dark. But be at it because this is one series where redemption is not for sale. There
04:39are no happy endings, but it just shows you a crime thriller that is really as good, if not
04:45even better than The Family Man and The Sacred Games. I've gone with 3.5 out of 5. For my full
04:51review, go to gulfnews.com.