She Review: As someone who is always looking forward to watch Imtiaz Ali's work, his recent projects in Bollywood haven't been as satisfactory, definitely if compared to his previous gems such as Rockstar, Tamasha and Highway. Given that Bollywood and feature films, in general, can be quite restricting, Imtiaz Ali's foray into the digital space seemed like a perfect match for his talents. For Netflix's new series She, Ali doesn't sit in the director's chair but is the showrunner with writing credits along with Divya Johri.  Spread across seven episodes, the Netflix show has everything going for it on paper but not  as much on-screen.  She Trailer: Vijay Varma, Aditi Pohankar Promise an Intriguing Ride in Netflix’s Upcoming Crime Drama (Watch Video).

The basic premise of the show revolves around a Mumbai constable, Bhumika Pardeshi (Aaditi Pohankar) taking on an undercover operation of posing as a sex worker to nab a drug kingpin. Although beneath the surface of this crime drama, the show much like the title suggests is about her (Bhumika) coming to a realisation of her power in terms of sexuality.  If you remember Anushka Sharma's Sejal from Ali's Jab Harry Met Sejal, you'll realise that Bhumika's character though stark opposite in the way she holds herself as oppposed to an OTT Sejal, has the same kind of longing to be 'worthy' of male desire. Although, while Sejal is trying hard to become the object of Harry's desire, in She, Bhumika's search is more internal and mainly about her desires than those around.  Although, the problem with the show is that it wants to talk about female sexuality beyond morality but there's also the other hotchpotch of having a neo-noir crime scene build-up, along with commentary on casual sexism at workplace faced by lady constables and so much more. Sadly, it never finds its balance among all this and fails to present a well-woven cohesive story.

She takes off with Vijay Varma's Sasya entering a brothel and being presented with a host of females to please him, among whom he is to choose one. Here, already on her undercover operation is Bhumika (Pohankar) and she knows well how to bait him with her sharp tongue rather than her skimpy attire. We are later given a flashback of how she was assigned to this operation under the Narcotics Cells' officer Jason Fernandez (Vishwas Kini).  A non-linear pattern follows all through between Bhumika's undercover act and Fernandez's operation. The show in general, is laden with exchanges filled with profanities and does much of the foreplay with its words (particularly Varma's character) as opposed to steamy scenes (which if any of you voyeuristic folks were looking forward to, are few). Varma's Sasya is a sleazebag who not once but at several points in the show refers to Bhumika's hidden sex drive as a 'Scorpion he wants to squash'. At various points, we see Bhumi's sex appeal being spoken in multiple different male gazes, so while Sasya sees her as a 'thirsty' woman,  her fellow cops fail to even acknowledge her as a female when in uniform whilst shamelessly discussing about women being ill-fit for.a cop's job. unfortunately, though, there's little insight given into what goes on in her head amidst all this and it this part of 'SHE ' (her) that the script gravely lacks. Even as we see Pohankar changing her body language the minute she goes undercover and learns the impact her sexuality has on men, there's never a moment that we truly understand the how and why she functions a certain way.  Sadly, not even in the bits where she wields a gun at a half-stripped Sasya moments after his  'scorpion squashing' dirty talk and finishes her first operation like a badass cop.

On the other side of Bhumi's world is the series' weakest plot revolving the Mumbai crime scene. Constantly saying 'Yeh log much bada plan kar rahe hai' means little and looks foolish for an ANC (Anti-Narcotics Cell) officer to mention repetitively, especially when his plan is to send a female cop in an undercover operation as a sex worker with very little training. While the first few episodes establish Sasya (Varma) as a key criminal in the plot, there's also Nayak (Kishore Kumar G) who is the big fish but unfortunately, by the time we reach that point in the story, the show's gone way out of hand with its uneven tone. The script entraps itself in its own contradictions by freeing a woman of her inhibitions but again holding her hostage to the typical male gaze with scenes such as the one where Fernandez (Kini) convinces his seniors on why Bhumika (Pohankar) is perfect for the job because she's may not seem 'femininely attractive' in obvious ways but mentions her hourglass figure. It's a shame that while we keep waiting for Bhumika's character to rise above this gaze and prove that she can use her sexuality for her gain, be comfortable with it and take credit for her work without for once letting the men above her tell her what to wear and say, it doesn't happen. As opposed to that, what we get is her troubled backstory in a fleeting glance that is supposed to make us feel that she's come a long way and is finally empowered.

The seven-episode series has been directed by Arif Ali (Lekar Hum Deewana Dil) and Avinash Das. The duo are credited for every episode so there's no individual direction on their part and maybe that is an issue here. Sometimes for films and series to be tonally correct, it's key that the directors get their space episodically. Why Sacred Games worked despite being in two separate timelines is because Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane played to their strengths keeping out of each other's work yet maintaining the right essence all through. She is scattered with shaky camera work and also uses some classic noir tropes of playing with light and deep shadows that are mediocre at best. The non-linear format with flashbacks also doesn't work to their benefit especially since the episodes are packed in merely 30-something minute range, making it seem like a hurried affair.

Watch the Trailer of She Here:

As for the performances, one of the biggest mistakes of She is limiting Vijay Varma's role beyond the first four episodes where he truly shines and owns every frame he's in. Apart from the fact that he nails this role, Sasya's character, the dramatic storyteller, the sleazy charmer, a key wheel in the drug cartel has so many layers that I honestly felt we didn't need a Nayak. She: Vijay Varma Is Intrigued by the Fact that Imtiaz Ali is the Creator of Netflix's Hard-Hitting Series.

The lead star of She, Aaditi Pohankar does a fine job of bringing out the dualities of Bhumika's character to life quite well. Even though her character is inexpressive with words, Pohankar does well to convey Bhumika's inner struggles especially in the scenes where she gazes at herself in the mirror.

After starring in Amazon Prime's The Family Man, South actor Kishore Kumar G pulls of Nayak's character though grossly underwritten well.

Yay!

- Vijay Varma as Sasya

- Attempt to address female sexuality differently

Nay!

- Lack of cohesion in script

- Uninspired direction

- Opening theme

Final Thoughts:

She suffers from what all of recent Imtiaz Ali works have been going through, lack of depth because he's trying too hard to spell things out (at times literally) in his writing. Despite a crackling performance by Vijay Varma and also Pohankar, there's hardly anything redeeming about this neo-noir drama that actually has so much of talent on and off-screen. Yet, in the current quarantine time, this is a quick watch with only seven episodes that don't even run long so if you want to put your mind off all the coronavirus panic, here's something!

Rating:2.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2020 11:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).