Detective drama minus frenzy

Nonika Singh

She is no Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. On the face of it, Tanya Maniktala as Meenakshi Iyer seems like an unlikely if not unsuitable candidate for playing a detective. The doe-eyed beauty of ‘A Suitable Boy’ is no ace sleuth anyway. Working in a private detective firm which takes up jobs that mostly involve digging dirt, aka peeping into others’ sex lives, it’s not great detective work either. She is even told that taking pictures of raunchy escapades do not make you a detective. Bogged down by a troubled past, she is aware of her middling status.

And then a body lands literally at her feet. Witness to an accidental death, she is inexorably drawn into murders, shootouts and the threat of a deadly virus looming large. Virology, says a virologist, is murky business. Indeed, those of us who buy the conspiracy theory of Covid-19 being a biological weapon are likely to nod wholeheartedly. In this eight-episode series streaming on Prime Video, similar ideas float around. Our lady detective, of course, is only interested in one thing: justice for the dead man Partho, who incidentally is a scientist. Her pursuit of truth takes her from Kolkata to Littnong, ‘a place on the fringes of civilisation’. Here, a virus outbreak has led to several deaths. In comes Dr Andrew Rakhaw (Jisshu Sengupta), who like our female lead has had a stormy past. Mercifully, the series does not saddle each character and there are quite a few with a back story. Equally refreshing is the fact that but for an occasional profanity, it does not indulge in unnecessary sex scenes or gaaligaloch.

The subject at hand is new too. Not often do we hear stories around scientific threats and deadly viruses; here it is Giant Atlantic Virus. The only problem is, as our reckless and clueless (her words, not ours) heroine Meenakshi tries to join the dots, the pace often dips to the point of tepidness. Sure, each episode climaxes on an edgy note, but the same cutting edge is missing in the series’ temper.

Vipin Sharma as the man from Intelligence is made to look interesting with a ponytail and all, but is wasted. So is Harsh Chayya. What kind of a head of a detective agency is he really? And it’s criminal to not give a complete arc to a fantabulous actor like Vinay Pathak as Dr Basu. Maniktala as someone trying to navigate between a tragic personal life and seeking validation in her work is vulnerable and sharp at the same time. In her, we see courage, not as a roar or as an absence of fear, but simply as the desire to do it right.

Showrunner Arindam Mitra (writer of ‘Black Friday’, as also ‘P.I. Meena’) has done well to include Bengali actors in the cast. After all, the series is set in the backdrop of Kolkata. Be it Sengupta or Parambrata Chattopadhyay, both make an impact in their respective parts. Though what exactly is Chattopadhyay’s Subho, a lawyer surfing in the dark net, where he himself goes by the name ‘fraud lawyer’ is shrouded in mystery. His track, despite his interest in politics and the need to disrupt it, however, is never fully developed. No doubt, the tenor of the series is consistent with the mood it cares to depict.

The cinematography by Indranath Marick and music by Amit Chatterjee and Rohit Kulkarni hold the narrative, which employs a few innovative tools in its storytelling. But what could have been a unique, one-of-its-kind detective drama falls short in not being able to create the frenzy, a given requisite of a thriller. Besides, the way the series is wrapped up is far too hurried, if not convenient.

In the final episode, it’s not just the maze that comes undone, but also the dramatic force. A pity really, for it’s not your regular revenge drama where villains are growling menacing stereotypes. But for people for whom terror is business, they lack the bite too.

While the series piques our interest, it does not take it to the peak of satisfaction. With enough twists, it can make to your watch-list, but not as essential viewing.