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The Great Indian Murder Review: Raghubir Yadav steals the show in this Tigmanshu Dhulia thriller
Planning to watch The Great Indian Murder? Read Pinkvilla review and decide.
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Star cast: Pratik Gandhi, Richa Chaddha, Raghubir Yadav, Ashutosh Rana & others
Platform: Disney+Hotstar
Rating: 3 stars
(NOTE: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD)
The Great Indian Murder is one of those shows with a self-explanatory title as the plot revolves around the murder of a famous industrialist, known for ample of infamous activities, at his own farmhouse. The controversial murder hits the prime-time discussion and brings the dark side of Indian politics to the forefront, as everyone is under the radar for orchestrating what is term the great Indian murder. The murder of industrialist aside, the narrative is entangled with several other sub-plots, ranging from the murder of two under 18 girls to the conflicts in Andaman Island, the politics to win the elections and a lot more. Who have done these murders? Well, you need to watch the show to find that out.
Venturing into the taut thriller space, Tigmanshu Dhulia tries to explore a different format of narrative by using episodes as a medium to introduce the audiences to the back story of all the core characters. He invests over 50 percent of the show time in merely establishing his characters, and the real premise begins to unfold only towards the concluding episodes of the show. While the initial portion is intriguing as you wish to know more about Vicky Rai, things begin to drag from the third episode onwards, only to catch hold in the last two episodes. The back stories of some characters do fascinate and spike interest, he tries to entangle the narrative with a lot of complexities, which merely adds to the runtime without adding any value to the core conflict.
The series rests on some good dialogues, which have been enhanced further by seasoned actors like Pratik Gandhi, Richa Chaddha, Ashutosh Rana and Raghubir Yadav to name a few. The series has been shot entirely in the pandemic and one can make that out from the production values, as the limitations in shooting conditions seem to have taken a toll on visual presentation. Cinematography too isn’t up to the mark, as the scale in series is missing despite being shot at some real locations. The background score is effective, and one can’t ignore how Dhulia has tactfully used the music from the golden era of Hindi cinema in relevant scenarios. The story is too complex, and stretched at some instances, and the viewers will have to be patient to get their doubts cleared as all the dots are connected only after the fifth episode.
Talking of performances, Richa Chaddha delivers a dependable performance as a senior female police officer. Despite a late entry in the world of murder mystery, she get’s her moment to shine and leave a mark. Pratik Gandhi rather plays a simpleton character of a CBI officer, that doesn’t have enough scope of performance, however, the series does set the base for things to get interesting around him in the second season. Ashutosh Rana plays a politician yet again, and as expected, fits the bill like a hand in glove. The person who steals the show is Raghubir Yadav, who gets’ the most fascinating character of the series. His track brings in ample humour and the actor surprises with an unexpected performance. Sharib Hashmi, Shashank Arora, Jatin Goswami and others in the ensemble do justice to their respective parts.
All in all, The Great Indian Murder has some good moments, but overall ends up being a not-so-great murder mystery. While the core conflict and some backstories are intriguing, the potential is diluted by constant introduction of characters at regular intervals. After a point of time, it gets tough to keep a tab about the relevance of every artist in this complex tale. The finale is also abrupt, as one expected a better closure to the first season of the murder mystery. Watch it with moderate expectations for some good performances, and an insight into the dark world of Indian politics.
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