108. Web-series reviews – 2

Continuing from the last blog…

The Unlisted – I came across this in some magazine.  This is an Australian drama TV-series aimed at children and young teenagers.  The series follows the story of 14-year old twins who work with a group of underground vigilante kids to stop powerful governments from imposing global control over the world’s youth.  Strictly a one-time watch for the concept.  Each episode is of just 20-minute duration.  So, the serial really moves very fast.  The lead kids’ family is Indian and so you have Indian actors settled in Australia acting in the series.  

Bosch – I had already mentioned about this series earlier.  I watched Seasons 4 and 5 couple of days back.  This is an American police procedural web-series.  Based on the books by Michael Connelly.  Sometimes 2-3 books are combined and made into one Season.  As interesting the books are, (I just finished his latest book, The Night Fire) the series too are very interesting.  The series is made interesting by Titus Welliver, who plays Bosch in the series, and is also one of the producers of the series.  Fast paced and a gripping series.  Worth watching.

In case I see more English series, I will mention about it in future blogs.  Let me turn to the Hindi ones now. 

The Family Man – This is a wonderful series, made all the more wonderful by Manoj Bajpayee.  It tells the story of a middle-class man secretly working as an intelligence officer for a fictitious branch of NIA.  You have to just see Manoj Bajpayee act so naturally in this series, in a typical middle-class way of thinking and acting.  When a motor cycle guy bangs on the side mirror of his car, while overtaking him, his son screams at the man.  When the motor cycle comes back to fight, Manoj Bajpayee simply closes the side window glass and says it is ok, it is ok😊.  In another gem of a scene, he is brutally hitting one person and scolding him with expletives, when Manoj’s son comes out of the school.  Seeing his son, he simply says to the guy – this is my son, say good morning to him😊!!  And he way he says is simply awesome.  The story ends in mid-way, indicating that Season 2 is in the works!!

Bard of Blood – Nothing to do with Shakespeare😊.  Starring Emraan Hashmi as an Indian spy.  Without giving anything else, my take – just avoid this series.  In the end, there is a twist that makes sense only for Season 2 expectation.  Don’t waste time.

Hostages – Apparently this is an adaptation of an Israeli series of the same name.  Starring Tisca Chopra and Ronit Roy.  Tisca Chopra is scheduled to perform a routine operation on the Chief Minister, but the night before the operation, her family is taken hostage and she is ordered to assassinate the Chief Minister in order to save her family, forcing her to make a decision.  Good acting by the key players.  Worth a one-time watch.  As usual, the series ends with a nod for another season.

Bose: Dead/Alive – About Subhash Chandra Bose and is based on a book called India’s Biggest Cover-up by Anuj Dhar.  I saw it just for Rajkummar Rao.   An ok kind of a serial.  Also moves very fast.  Has shown Bose to be a man who knows what he is doing.  It also raised questions on his death and shows that he was alive after he was supposedly killed in the plane crash.  Strictly a one-time watch and that too if you have spare time.  Of course, Rajkummar has acted well in the series.  And you can watch the series just for him.  Others are all secondary.  The synopsis being – On 18 August 1945 after his overloaded Japanese plane crashed in Japanese-occupied Formosa (now Taiwan), Subhas Chandra Bose (Rajkumar Rao) is presumed dead. However his family in Kolkata receive a telegram from Mahatma Gandhi to not conduct his last rites. It then begins with speculation about his death and other characters who suggest how he has vanished in the past as well, with all of them suggesting his possible return.

Today’s Daffy Definition

Editor – A fellow with a little desk and a big wastepaper basket!!

Source – Wikipedia for the background stuff