Gyaraah Gyaraah is confusing mélange of crime

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From one crime to another, one plot to the next, crime dramas of the procedural kind have been common in foreign literature, but not so in India. So basically the idea of Gyaraah Gyaraah is fresh. It would have been preeminently welcome had it been handled properly. But when the result is confusing, the grip on the viewer slackens, especially since this is a long-format (web series) narration.

Worse, there is an element of the supernatural and time-travel (as in changing the past or future!) that, again if properly scripted and directed, would have made for a novel highlight in the saga, but when we do not have complete clarity on any of the cases as the episodes pile up, it’s a losing situation.  The intercuts between 1990, 1998, 2001 and 2016 finally become so irritatingly obtuse that I ended up just waiting for a conclusion, hoping that would wrap up everything, even if there was going to be a Season 2 (which will obviously be there!).

ZEE5 always has had a mixed bag of cinematic fare, and this one’s no different. In fact, the head honchos of this platform as well as Sony LIV should intensely introspect on why most of the best series go to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar. Just on the basis on high-profile names associated with the production, this OTT platform seems to have acquired this mélange of murders, and attempted novelty. But then, we have the axiom, ‘Different does not always mean good’!

The series starts with the murder of an 8 year-old child Aditi, whose mother (Gautami Kapoor) is still doggedly pursuing the case 15 years later. A law is going to be passed when old case files have to be closed after a certain time has elapsed, so Aditi’s mother is desperate and goes on a fast-unto-death.

In this phase, a crucial eyewitness, then a kid, has now become a cop, Yug (Raghav Juyal, the maniac villain of Kill), and has full sympathy for the woman. He struts grandly, rants at his seniors and ignores their orders, and just wants to find the truth. He is helped by some colleagues, like the whimsical Wamika (Kritika Kamra), and looked at with contempt by some seniors, who we are later told are corrupt.

In 2001, there had been another cop like him, Shaurya (Dhairya Karwa). He was searching for the truth about Aditi’s murder. He has gone missing after a controversial career. There is also a suspect, a student (Tapasvi Joshi) who is said to be a drug-addict and is actually victim to a frame-up. The two cops soon exchange notes on a walkie-talkie that comes alive (for unknown reasons) only at 11.11 and for only a minute in the night, when the lights around Yug (in 2016) and Shaurya (in 2001) begin to blink! So a communication between 2001 and 2016 is established!

But there is more in store. From here, we move to the Tie-and-Die murder cases, where one of a serial killer’s victims is Shaurya’s fiancée, Payal (Mukti Mohan). The trail leads to a bus driver (Brijendra Kala). Much mystery is made about his woman colleague, Dilshan (Gandhali Jain) too. We then move to Shamshera (Rohit Pathak), a man framed of murder in a political squabble involving drugs. His teenage daughter (Khushi Bhardwaj) is shot dead and he is arrested for a crime that he did not commit, so he later kidnaps the daughter (Neha Singh) of the politician (Paritosh Sand), who had framed him and plans to kill her.

How much of all this, past and present, can the two cops prevent, change and modify through this walkie-talkie 60-second exchange? And are those changes for the better? Now this is something that could have made for unique fare. But the way it all unfolds is badly compromised in terms of viewer interest.

The direction and script leave much to be desired, obviously. The performances are average, with Raghva Juyal’s intensity being the only strength. Kritika Kamra is a misfit in the role, her gaze and expressions severely wanting. Harsh Chhaya as the corrupt and abusive cop, seems to be told to do a mini-reprise of his unforgettable turn in the Undekhi franchise. The late Nitesh Pandey is sincere, but it’s an ill-etched role. Gautami Kapoor reprises the wailing, disturbed mothers of the 1950-’60-‘70s eras.

Eminently incoherent, stretched and fundamentally illogical, this is a series best avoided.

Rating: **

ZEE5 presents Dharmatic Entertainment’s and Sikhya Entertainment’s Gyaraah Gyaraah  Produced by: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Guneet Monga & Achin Jain  Directed by: Umesh Bist  Written by: Kim Eun-hee,  Puja Banerji, Sunjoy Shekhar, Sameer Saral Sharma, Gautam Govind Sharma  Music:Tallz  Starring: Raghav Juyal, Kritika Kamra, Dhairya Karwa, Gautami Kapoor, Tapasvi Joshi,  Samvedna Suwalka, Harsh Chhaya, Gaurav Sharma, Nitesh Pandey, Preshah Bharti, Mukti Mohan, Sachin Kumar, Brijendra Kala, Gandhali Jain, Anshika Purnendu Bhattacharya,  Ambuj Anand, Paritosh Sand, Rohit Pathak, Khushi Bhardwaj, Neha Singh & others