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Is Paatal Lok going to be Amazon Prime India's answer to Netflix's Sacred Games? In a way, yes. Both the shows impose an investigative thriller against the background of contemporary political atmosphere. Like Netflix India has become synonymous with Sacred Games, there is a high chance that Paatal Lok would do the same to Amazon Prime India. Both shows are exemplary in their own ways and prove to be a groundbreaking watch, with enough disturbing and shocking visuals. Paatal Lok Review: Anushka Sharma’s Amazon Prime Series Is Powerful, Absorbing and Disturbing Boosted by Jaideep Ahlawat’s Knockout Act.
Yet, what makes Paatal Lok different is that it is less ambitious in its scope and therefore is more grounded and contained. The writing and execution are strong, and the performances just too good. Paatal Lok is Anushka Sharma's production house, Clean Slate Filmz's maiden venture into OTT platform. Writer Sudip Sharma is the showrunner, while Avinash Arun (Killa) and Prosit Roy (Pari) have directed the nine-episode of the show. Jaideep Ahlawat, Neeraj Kabi, Gul Panag, Abhishek Banerjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Ishwak Singh, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Jagjeet Sandhu, Mairembam Ronaldo Singh and Rajesh Sharma form the cast of the series.
The premise is about a group of three men and a woman who are apprehended by the Delhi Police under the suspicion of trying to assassinate a journalist. An inspector, Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Jaipdeep) is assigned to the case, and he tries to figure out who is behind the mission and what's the reason of wanting to kill the journo, Sanjeev Mehra. Paatal Lok Funny Memes: Anushka Sharma-Produced Web Series Provides New Meme Templates Much to the Joy of Netizens.
While Paatal Lok is absorbing and lends to powerful storytelling, it isn't for the faint-hearted. There are some gruesome death scenes, shocking visuals and nudity that is anything about arousing. Not to mention, some very stunning twists and turns, and character turnarounds.
In this feature, let's look at 13 moments in the show that left us stunned, shocked and at times, looking at anywhere but the screen. Needless to say, HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD! So read with caution...
Kath*a
Hathi Ram Chaudhary is the protagonist of the show, an everyday cop going through a midlife crisis. He is someone who is frustrated and his anger is always on the boiling point. While these aren't very nice traits to root for such a hero, it is made more difficult by one particular scene. During the brutal questioning of one of the culprits, who turns out to be Muslim, Hathi Ram refers to him as a Kath*a, a derogatory slang used for the members of the Islamic community. This leaves his own Muslim colleague stunned to see a man who he looked upto, coming out as a racist. Paatal Lok has enough swear words, but this one stings the most.
The Crying Game
The Crying Game is a 1992 film starring Stephen Rhea and Jaye Davidson, where an ex-soldier who falls for a hair-stylist, only to find out that she is a woman trapped in a man's body. Paatal Lok has its Crying Game moment, when the woman in the group, Cheeni (named by her childhood urchin friends because of zir North-Eastern features) turns out to be a male. Even more shocking is Hathi Ram's brutal kicking of her, venting out his frustration at what he thinks is a betrayal. Yup, this is the man we are supposed to root for!
The Promise
When the show delves into the backgrounds of these four culprits, it leaves us with some very shocking, and often tragic circumstances that they are brought up. Like in the case of the wise-cracking Chaakoo (Jagjeet Sandhu), he belongs to the lower caste community of the Manjaars in his village, and is often ridiculed and mocked upon by the higher-caste boys over his penis size. Encouraged by the youth leader of his community, Chaakoo slashes at his harassers with a knife, and one of his victims swears that his father will take revenge for this by violating Chaakoo's mother. While we think it to be an empty threat, shockingly, his father makes good of that promise, raping Chaakoo's mother in front of his hapless father.
Tyagi's First Hathoda
Tyagi (Abhishek Banerjee) is revealed to be a cold-blooded assassin whose modus operandus involves killing his victims with a hammer. Even before he was hired as an assassin, hammer has been Tyagi's weapon as he kills three of his schoolmates with it. In a flashback, we seen him kill the first one instantly and then chasing the second victim through the school corridor and hammering his head repeatedly. We are shown the resultant bloody mess, as we get to see the cracked skull with the brains out. Yuck!
Rape for Hire
The reason for Tyagi's above murderous rage is revealed later when we find out that it was an act of revenge. Tyagi's three sisters were raped by men hired by his father's neighbour over something as trivial as a property issue. It makes something within us boil in rage when it is revealed there are different rates for the kind of atrocities that to be committed on girls, from chota kaam (molesting), bada kaam (rape) and full kaam (rape and murder). Considering that it is something that is happening in certain parts of our country, we can only wonder if this we have truly becomes residents of Paatal Lok.
Mob Lynching
Mob-Lynching is something that has been part of OTT shows like Sacred Games and The Family Man. In Pataal Lok, the Muslim culprit, Kabir's father tells Hathi Ram how his elder brother was killed by a mob of Hindutva members, because they suspected they were eating beef in train while travelling (it was chicken, in fact, but does that matter? Ask Pehlu Khan). But when Kabir was labelled as a terrorist, his father sadly tells Hathi Ram, that he had raised his son his whole life not as a Muslim, and yet the police have gone ahead and labelled him a jihadi!
Child Abuse
Cheeni (Mairembam Ronaldo Singh) has the most heart-wrenching background story. Abandoned by zir parents in a train, the kid was taken care of by a group of urchins, getting close to one of the boys. The kid likes to dress up as a girl, revealing its gender-confused feelings, and zie catches the eye of a rogue rickshaw-puller who is seen later sodomising the kid. The act of sodomy itself isn't explicit, but the sight of the man's bare backside doing unspeakable things makes your blood curdle.
'Republic'
Not every moment in the series has to be extreme to claim itself to be shocking. Sometime drastic transformation is also a shocking matter too. Like with the case of Sanjeev Mehra. Portrayed first as a journalist with an idealist attitude, his liberal outlook doesn't go down well with his channel's financial backer, an industrialist who looks down on LW kinds. Sanjeev later uses his near-murder attempt as a chance to redeem his career, as well as boost his channel's sagging ratings. First, he tries to give an impression that he is doing so to expose the truth and catch the people behind the mission to silence him. Later, it all becomes a matter of TRPs as he spuns in the terrorism angle in the conspiracy, and equates the attempt on his life as that on the 'Republic', that is the nation. Wonder whom the show was hinting at there...
Thappad
While dragging his son to confront the person who had beaten him up (over a stolen gun), Hathi Ram slaps his wife when she tries to stop him. In context, this might be the mildest scene of violence in the whole series, but in a post-Thappad world, every slap matters! But Hathi Ram does get his just desserts, where after taking care of his son's matter, he returns home abusing the system who is screwing up his case, only to be slapped into stunned silence by his wife. It was a moment of awakening for the man, who realises that his loved ones aren't going to put up with his frustrated acts any more.
That Jail Bath Moment
Since our country doesn't have a special prison for gender-confused prisoners, Cheeni has to be sent to a male prison, where zie has to bear the leery looks of zir fellow inmates. After facing the trauma of seeing Kabir killed in front of her eyes, Cheeni's troubles don't end there. Later when zie goes for a bath, a fellow prisoner is seen masturbating at zer, making zim leave from there quickly as possible.
Master Ji's Mystery
Master Ji is a leader of the lower-caste community in Chitrakoot, a powerful but mysterious man whose identity is shrouded in secrecy and who demands fierce loyalty from people who wants to be in his close circle. Tyagi worships him like the latter is God, and he is not the only one. We think that his identity would be revealed in the final episode as part of the main mystery. To our complete surprise, Hathi Ram reveals to Gwala Gujjar (Rajesh Sharma), a Master Ji loyalist, that he knows Master Ji has been dead for sometime and they have hidden this fact from the public for their own political aspirations.
The Dog Twist
Hathi Ram, who is spared by Gwala, is told the secret as to why Tyagi didn't go ahead with the plan to kill Sanjeev Mehra. He later goes to Sanjeev's office and bursts his bubble by telling him that his assassination attempt was merely an excuse to get Tyagi arrested, and keep him out of Chitrakoot. The only thing that saved his life was that Tyagi sees him and his wife petting a street dog, and being a canine lover, he remembers his Master ji's words 'People who love dogs are good people. When a dog loves a man, he is a good man.' The irony of the revelation is that Sanjeev actually hates dogs and he was only petting it to keep his wife happy. This fact, as well as the realisation that he was just a tool to trap another man, leaves Sanjeev humiliated, though it doesn't change any bit what he becomes.
Tyagi's Final Kill
In the beginning of the last episode, there is a flashback prelude where an astrologer tells the father of a newborn that his child has the horoscope of the demon king Hiranyakashipu. The child, he predicts, would go on to do terrible things and only one man can stop him. We are given the impression that the child could be Master ji. After Hathi Ram's shocking revelation, this fact is forgotten till Tyagi and others are taken to court. Tyagi, who was unaware till then that his guru is dead, is made known of the fact when Hathi Ram gives him Masterji's amulet before his court hearing. In his shock on realising what actually happened, Tyagi tries to escape stealing a cop's gun, but Hathi Ram confronts him with his own revolver. While they are in a standoff, the scene cuts back to the flashback prelude, as we realise that the child was Tyagi itself. As for the man who could kill him, the answer is given immediately when he shoots himself, thus proving the prediction right in a strange way!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2020 09:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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