Paatal Lok Review: Anushka Sharma’s Amazon Prime Series Is Powerful, Absorbing and Disturbing Boosted by Jaideep Ahlawat’s Knockout Act

Paatal Lok Review: Amazon Prime's new Indian series, Paatal Lok, begins with a bang. A group of three men and a girl is apprehended by the Delhi police. The accusation was that they were about to assassinate Sanjeev Verma (Neeraj Kabi), a top journalist and editor with left-wing tendencies of a channel struggling to get ratings. Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat), a frustrated cop going through a midlife crisis, is assigned to investigate who hired the culprits and why the need to kill the journalist. Paatal Lok Trailer: Anushka Sharma's Crime Series Featuring Jaideep Ahlawat Has Blood Flowing on the Streets (Watch Video)

The culprits aren't ready to talk, and the cops find out one of them is a cold-blooded killer. Being his first major dope, Hathi Ram want to give his best, but as he gets deeper into the investigation, he realises he is dealing with powers beyond his scope of control. With his family and his department lacking confidence in his skills, Hathi Ram must fight his own darkness to make inroads into the case, while Sanjeev Mehra uses the opportunity to rebuild his career.

Paatal Lok is the first venture of Anushka Sharma's production house, Clean Slate Filmz, into the world of web-series. Writer Sudip Sharma is the showrunner, while Prosit Roy, who had directed Anushka in one of her productions Pari, is one of the directors. But one name involved that I have to point out here is Navdeep Singh. Singh had directed NH 10, Anushka's first production. Singh is also invested in Paatal Lok as a script consultant.

So why am I singling out Navdeep here out of all people here? The reason is his directorial debut, Manorama Six Feet Under (an unofficial remake of Chinatown). When you watch Hathi Ram's struggles to crack his case in Paatal Lok, you can't help but draw parallels to Singh's first film - where Abhay Deol's out-of-luck detective realises he has bitten more than he can chew when he tackles what he thinks is a simple case. Hathi Ram goes through a similar predicament; even his relationship with his wife (Gul Panag, who also plays Abhay's wife in MSFU) has similar beats.

However, living up to its title, Hathi Ram's adventures in Paatal Lok are far more hellish, as he gets disgraced, gets suspended, is insulted on a daily basis and even gets beaten black and blue, while solving a case that he, practically, should have left alone. But we know the reason for his adamancy - in a conversation with his superior, he tells him that he had already disappointed his father. He doesn't want to disappoint his son anymore.

In a way, it is a coming-of-age story for Hathi Ram, as he travels from Delhi to Chitrakoot, and back, to solve the case of a lifetime. He is a hero who is pretty flawed - he is racist, he is seen brutally beating a prisoner, he is jealous of his colleagues and in one weak moment, he slaps his wife. It is pretty hard to root for such a protagonist, but in a show filled with characters of various shadiness, Hathi Ram, despite that name, is an underdog that you want to root for, even if we know he can't get close to a win. Forget Hathi Ram, Paatal Lok makes us feel bad for even a cold-blooded killer like Vishal Tyagi (Abhishek Banerjee), the leader of the captured four. For these men are products of their harrowing circumstances, which are clearly seeped into the flawed society we live in. In the opening scene, Hathi Ram tells how the city is divided into swarglok, bhoolok and paatal lok. Once the series is done reflecting the mirror on you, you can't help but feel the coundaries have already been blurred in the show, and outside it too. Anushka Sharma Birthday: From NH 10 to Band Baaja Baaraat, 7 Best Movies of the Actress and Where to Watch Them Online.

The central mystery as to why the gang wants to kill a journalist is gripping, but it is made more fascinating by the political and media circus around it. With every episode we get glimpses of the backgrounds they come from (including the protagonist's) - each reflecting one problem or the other as to what is plaguing the country.

From minority maltreatment to caste politics to Naxalism to child abuse, the writers (Sudip Sharma, Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta and Gunjit Chopra) scram in nearly every menace to the society, that we daily read in the papers, and creates a powerful, often harrowing narrative out of it. Like how easy it is to spin a terrorism angle into a random criminal act, and to lap it up. Pricked somewhere in your conscience?

The show can be pretty gruesome and disturbing, with instances of gore and nudity, that would repel you and also make you feel bad for characters that initially don't seek your mercy.

Watch the Trailer of Paatal Lok:

At times, you feel things are being played for shock value. At times, you feel that, like Amazon Prime's other big Indian hit Family Man, it tries to cram a bit too much to keep itself relevant and contemporary. Like for example, Hathi Ram's well-meaning Muslim colleague  Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh) getting a reality check about his identity at every other instance. Though he is the most likable character of the show, this thread isn't given a proper closure other than him accepting it as a fact of life. Which was the case in the start too!

But for all its faults, Paatal Lok, deftly directed by Roy and Avinash Arun, also ends up creating an immersive show that, without taking a political side, roughly shoves your head towards what's wrong around you. Like there is a scene, where a business tycoon tells the editor of his channel about how the time of corruption is over and how the country has the best PM and the CM. Before we roll our eyes at what could be a moment of sycophancy from the show toward the real-life powers, the tycoon tells off the journalist for poking his head into what should have been a huge scandal brewing in the city.

The character arcs are well-defined with the most interesting being that of the purported 'victim' Sanjeev Mehra. When we first meet him, Sanjeev Mehra, who represents the swarglok, comes across this idealist journo, who is going through a rough phase because he is honest. Even his subordinate Sara Matthews (Niharika Lyra Dutt) falls for him, because he gives out the impression of an idealist who wants the truth out. As the show progresses, the perception around Sanjeev changes, as he transforms from someone like a Ravish Kumar to a someone who makes his problem as that of the 'Republic'. Wink, wink... we all know what you are hitting at, Paatal Lok!

As for the main mystery, the best bit about it is that it is not the solution that is interesting, but the circumstances that led to the said 'hit-job' in the first place. Won't say too much about this, but the conclusion to the suspense really left me smiling, after some very dark moments!

The performances are another asset for the show, with even minor characters - like the lady constable who always keep talking on phone - are well-cast. Jaideep Ahlawat brings a relatable broodiness in his character that makes us feel some sort of empathy for his anguish. I particularly loved him in the scene where after solving a problem for his son, he goes on a barrage of insults on the way back, and then put into a stunned silence by his wife. Excellent performance, there!

Neeraj Kabi is terrific as the morally complicit and opportunistic Sanjeev. Wish that Gul Panag has more to do than being an annoyed wife, but she gives a wonderful performance here, and her scenes with Ahlawat bring a human respite to the grim proceedings.

Abhishek Banerjee, whose psychotic turn in Mirzapur was impressive, delivers another knockout performance as Tyagi. Other standout performers, in no particular order - Niharika Lyra Dutt, Swastika Mukherjee, Ishwak Singh, Mairembam Ronaldo Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Jagjeet Sandhu -  all fine actors who make the show a really captivating watch.

PS: Dog Lovers, who can stomach some violence, would love this show!

Yay!

- Gripping Throughout With Good Writing and Excellent Performances

Nay!

- Crams a Bit Too Much. Also Indulges in Shock Value

Final Thoughts

Many are calling Paatal Lok as Amazon's answer to Netflix's Sacred Games. While the comparison feels inevitable thanks to the tone, disturbing themes and the hype common in both the series, Paatal Lok is its own beast that keeps the drama grounded, characters even more relatable and in the end, evokes a sense of satisfaction in you, even if things don't really go the way you expect them to. Don't miss this!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2020 01:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).