The Indian shows on OTT platforms are replete with crime thrillers, one way or the other. It is difficult to find out a nice, gripping family drama on OTT nowadays. Crime thrillers have till recently been a less explored arena for the Hindi film/series makers. It’s not that we did not have them. It’s just that they were mostly linear stories, told in a one dimensional manner. The advent of OTT has changed it. Many filmmakers are now coming up with multi-layered stories with layered characters.
‘Kohrra’ outshines all of them. In that sense it matches the tone and grasp of Nordic noire. The 6-part web series on Netflix is created by Sudip Sharma and directed by Randeep Jha. With his brilliant writing Sudip Sharma has made a special place for himself and works like ‘Paataal Lok’, ‘Udta Punjab’ and ‘NH10’ are the testimony to it. And his distinct wit and characterization bear a mark on this series too.
The story revolves around the murder of a young NRI, Paul Dhillon who has come to Punjab with a friend Liam to get married to Veera, a young girl who has just broken off with her boyfriend, a young rap artist Saakaar.Balbir Singh and his assistant Amarpal Garundi investigate the high profile case and there is a pressure from authorities to solve it as soon as possible. Balbir Singh is grappling with his own demons, of a haunting past, defiant daughter who refuses to go back to her husband and has a boyfriend too. Whereas Garundi too longs to get out of the liaison he has with his sister-in-law, wants to marry and has his own family. Balbir has a liking for a widow whose husband was a police informer.
Suvinder Suvi is simply brilliant as a deeply brooding, mostly quiet Balbir Singh. The violence in his eyes is unmatched with any kind of physical violence that he indulges in. Barun Sobti too excels as the cop who beats and draws truth out of the suspects. He too has a certain softness on his face which gives away his vulnerability.Actors are competent and leave a mark with their haunting silence or cries or just a whimper. But it is the way the story gradually enwraps you tightly that haunts long after the series is over. Although a crime has been committed, yet it is not just a murder, but the way each and every character of the story is stifled and craves for love which is either forbidden or hard to get- that seems to be more sinister than the death of a person.
The story goes on to underscore, without much hue and cry, the barriers we draw as society and as individuals which make it almost impossible to have a love in our life, love which doesn’t know any ego, restriction or inhibition.Another layer of the story subtly hints at the drug-ridden youth of Punjab, corruption and a degenerate, regressive society where a girl is convinced that she can find happiness only when she marries a non-resident Indian. The obsession with foreign lands is reflected even in the name of a restaurant (Amreeka Return Café).
The characters, without speaking much convey physical and emotional violence, the sheer helplessness of an individual trapped in social dogma. At times the silence shrieks and the curiosity to know ‘whodunit’ becomes rather painful. The web of relationship is as dense as the mist which gets Liam killed.
This is one web series which can be referred to as one of the best in recent flurry of crime dramas. Suvinder has finally arrived with ‘Kohrra’. Sudip Sharma is maturing in his craft and Barun Sobti definitely has miles to go.
