Web Review: Aarya 3 keeps up the tempo, but…!

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How does Aarya 3 measure up to its earlier fiery sequels? Quite well! But…!

This tendency and recent ‘tradition’ to cut stories into Part 1 and Part 2 (Freelancer and The Night Manager on this platform and Taj—Divided by Blood and Scam 2003 on others) is getting more than mildly irksome. We come to realize by the beginning of episode 4 (the final one here) that the story, clearly, cannot be completed, and so we have a ‘cliffhanger’ that irritates rather than provide a fervent anticipation for Part 2 of the third installment. I have no idea how the Dutch original, Penoza, went, and how it was streamed or aired, but this propensity for testing a viewer’s patience (or impatience!) must end!

Now, coming to the show itself, it is a Sushmita Sen vehicle all the way. Getting deeper into the skin of her character (which itself is becoming deeper!), Sushmita reaffirms the fact that she is a powerful actress when given roles of substance—which barely happened when she was doing films. She is at once the fiercely protective mother, the deeply loyal force for those who stand by her, the vulnerable single parent, and the intensely ruthless don of her empire.

Her perfect sync with her character, best watched when she weeps for both Kedia (Tariq Vasudeva) and Roop (Shweta Pasricha), or in her first encounter with rival drug don Nalini (Ila Arun as never before!), and in the measured way she punishes recalcitrant landowner Goradia (Krunal Pandit) or rebukes Sampat (Vishwajeet Pradhan) are special highlights.

Inching close along with Ila Arun is the disturbed yet maniacal vendetta machine, Sooraj (Indraneil Sengupta), with his mood changes and devilish cruelty that actually reflects his suppressed grief and helpless anger. The rest of the cast also shines, especially Nalini’s impulsive son (actor’s name unknown).

As Aarya is cornered both on the “professional” (if you can call a drug don’s work by that name!) and personal level, we see the series maintain its voltage from Season 2. Some relationships have changed or are changing now, and it will be interesting to see what happens on Aarya’s domestic front (her kids), her loyalists, her mother and relatives. And of course, The Russians Are Coming (excuse the pun on the 1960s Hollywood comedy’s title) too—once more!

But then, the balloon is pricked and we are told that the remaining part of this season (will it be the last?) will come a few months later! The logic defies everything—why not wait (if the episodes have to be shot, that is) and show everything at once? There must be some difference between a TV serial and a web series!

Everything about this show concurs with the standards of the earlier seasons. And we hope that Part 2 lives up to expectations that have now surfaced.

Rating: ***1/2

Disney+Hotstar presents Ram Madhvani Films’ Aarya 3 Created & Produced by: Ram Madhvani  Directed by:  Ram Madhvani, Kapil Sharma & Shraddha Pasi Jairath  Written by: Pieter Bart Korthuis, Anu Singh Choudhary, Khushboo Raj & Amit Raj Music: Vishal Khurana  Starring: Sushmita Sen, Vikas Kumar, Virti Vaghani, Viren Vazirani, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Sikandar Kher, Maya Sarao, Pratyaksh Panwar, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Sohaila Kapur,  Tariq Vasudeva, Shweta Pasricha, Krunal Pandit, Yury Gubanov, Ila Arun,  Indraneil Sengupta & others