Not a force to reckon with

Sheetal

‘Dashing officers in vardi, flying cars, high-octane action sequences and a dash of humour.’ In the blink of an eye, one can make out that we are talking about Rohit Shetty’s style of filmmaking. We have two Shettys in the ‘Indian Police Force’, the other being actress Shilpa Shetty, yet the Shetty flavour is missing.

For Rohit’s digital debut, the series lacks everything he stood for in his previous outings. The series doesn’t evoke emotions, the episodes just touch the surface and it looks like the screenwriter forgot to deep-dive into the plot to devise well-etched characters — the one thing that sets feature films apart from OTT series.

We can’t blame the actors when there’s no over-the-top issue for them to tackle as characters of ‘Indian Police Force’. The treatment is that of a daily soap. With preachy dialogues, clichéd characters and a predictable turn of events, it passes off as a carbon copy of some 1980s’ film. It was nearly impossible to sit through one episode and then they had to introduce a romantic number as well. When did Rohit Shetty become Yash Raj Chopra? Most importantly, for a series that was much-anticipated since its announcement, how did the writer forget to introduce a strong villain so the heroes are applauded? For a villain that didn’t even get a mention in the main cast, it’s no surprise that his role was just for show and hence made the vardi-clad officer look weak. Shilpa Shetty, who is introduced as the first lady officer in director Shetty’s cop universe, is called ‘Selfish Shetty’ (Tara Shetty), which again is a typecast as if every successful woman in her field chooses herself over other things.

To their credit, Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi not only look the part but have also poured emotions into their characters of Delhi Police officers Kabir Malik and Vikram Bakshi, respectively.

It’s a forgettable series, and that’s not good news for Rohit Shetty or Sidharth Malhotra fans. Watch it if you must, but remember, there are better options available even on the same platform.