Hard punches, not knockout Glory

A web-series rooted in Haryana’s inimitable terra firma around one of its favourite sports: boxing. Yet ‘Glory’ isn’t your regular sports drama, or a story of an underdog making it big. Marrying murder mystery with the shenanigans of the game, which is at once dangerous and thrilling, the seven-episode series too treads the same path.

In the very first episode, we are witness to the murder of a gifted boxer, Nihal Singh (Yugam Sood). An Olympic gold contender, he decides to elope with his girlfriend Gudiya (Jannat Zubair), daughter of his coach Raghubir Singh (Suvinder Vicky). Coming from the land where female foeticide and honour killings are rampant, you smell a rat. And the guessing game begins.

Creators Karmanya Ahuja and Karan Anshuman take you into a world of professional rivalry as well as where panchayat heads call the shots and believe that same-gotra marriage is a sin. Are they the sinners? Your guess is as good as ours.

Before we wear our sleuthing caps, we are taken in by the drama which centres on ‘coach sir’ and his two sons: Dev (Divyenndu) and Ravi (Pulkit Samrat). The coach is so possessed by the dream of an Olympic gold that he disciplines his students, including his sons, with a thrashing they would remember for life.

Dev’s backstory is evident from the word go. Father dearest has maimed him literally and physically. Pulkit’s Ravi is fighting his own demons. Family tragedy brings them together in pursuit of the killer. The hot-headed Dev wants revenge at any cost and sets on a mission with a devil-may-care attitude. Much time is devoted to establish the bond between the brothers and their sister.

As is the nature of a whodunit, the culprits are discovered one by one, only each discovery leads to a dead-end. Where co-creator Karan Anshuman, the maker of Emmy-nominated ‘Inside Edge’ and ‘Mirzapur’, succeeds is in keeping you on the edge. Blending the dynamics of his two successful series as well as life within and outside the boxing ring, both he and Kanishk Varma create an engaging thriller.

Intrigue is maintained at all times, even when the storyline throws in some technically-apt boxing bouts. A battery of fine actors, including Ashutosh Rana, Yashpal Sharma, Zakir Hussain and Brijendra Kala, ensures that the momentum is maintained and we stay invested in both the dramatic proceedings and its vast range of characters, mostly swathed in dark shades of grey.

The series’ real pivot is the trio of Vicky, Divyenndu and Pulkit. Trust Munna of ‘Mirzapur’, Divyenndu, to play the hero-anti-hero posturing with the same sardonic humour which earned him unprecedented fame. Here, it helps that he is playing a Haryanvi, famous for wearing no filters. His chemistry with Sayani Gupta’s journalist act is fine but more interesting is the one with his equally acerbic father. Their sparring keeps the tension and dramatic conflict alive.

After ‘CAT’ and ‘Kohrra Season One’, it’s indeed heartening to see Suvinder Vicky as a lead player. He eases into this part of a much-respected coach whose drive matches his fierceness. Pulkit’s well-etched character is relatively the calming force but again, he, too, is no saint. His affair with his best friend’s wife Bharti first appears like an unnecessary intrusion. But as Kashmira Pardeshi’s Bharti emerges as a mover and shaker, more cards are laid on the table. And you realise that nothing is for the heck of it in this jigsaw puzzle.

To begin with, you may feel that the series bites into too many subjects like the sale and purchase of brides. But again, things fall into place. The characters and their motives are contexualised in the larger scheme of things. The anti-climax may appear a bit convoluted. Had one not seen a mirror image of similar happenings in real life, one could have dismissed it as an unwarranted flight of imagination. But in a state which has given us many outstanding sportswomen, the tentacles of patriarchy too run deep.

To be fair, the writers throw enough clues to join the dots. Once you are proven right, the feeling ranges from vindication to exasperation. Not the least because, after watching seven episodes running up to 50 minutes, you do wish the series had reached a conclusive finale. But as makers eye a second season, the door is left wide open. Though the current mystery is solved, the hook remains. Who survives and who gets killed… will be unravelled next time. Only, to be frank, we may not be that keen the next time.

Yes, the series has to be credited for getting the atmospherics right. Though there isn’t any unnecessary preoccupation with the Haryanvi dialect, you do get a peep into its ethos. Take the audacious scenes involving buffaloes bellowing in the house of the sarpanch (Yashpal Sharma).

Not just the storyline, even DOP John Schmidt gets into the nooks and crannies of Haryana’s hinterland and its badlands for sure. Haryana, we are told, is not only a cradle of many medal winners but also a place where illegal boxing is arranged by a mining mafia don, played with delicious devilry by Sikander Kher.

The epicentre of all this drama, taking a leaf from reality but exaggerated, is a fictitious town Shaktigarh, nursery of boxing talent.

Finally, as India celebrates Haryana’s sporting glory, the series forces us to contemplate how often the quest for name and fame comes at a great cost. Only, these monks are not ready to sell their Ferrari to cover up the price ambition exacts. But, are they even monks in the first place?

Watch to know how the makers land their punches, if not deliver a knockout round.