218. Web-series Reviews – 65

 More web-series reviews…

Rocket Boys – The story of two extraordinary men, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, who created history while building India's future.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

Sony LIV's Rocket Boys will take you into space technology for national development, which will inspire and motivate you with head-strong story of three genius who have played a pivotal role in creating history for India.

Rocket Boys takes you through the journey of events right from India's independence in 1947, launch of first nuclear program and space program which involved geniuses like Homi J Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and APJ Abdul Kalam who despite the struggle, different thinking, approach, political pressure and disagreement, creates history for India which made us proud with their achievements.

There are two things which can ignite the curiosity in you to watch the 8 episode web series drama - Abhay Pannu takes the director's seat along with the creator Nikkhil Advani to show interesting tale of how the Indian Space Program was orchestrated. After watching Rocket Boys, your thirst for a perfect captivating web series will be quenched thanks to the solid entertainment, powerful dialogues and electrifying performances that will keep you hooked till the last episode. A big clap to the team, including the writers (Abhay Koranne and Kausar Munir) for researching and taking us into the world of science during the 1940-1960 period by keeping it raw and real.

Rocket Boys is flavored with a brilliant background by Achint Thakkar (Scam 1992) with magnificent cinematography by Harshvir Oberao, outstanding production design by Meghna Gandhi and splended art direction by Pradeep Nigam. On the flip side, the story of Indian space seemed bit long and stretched at some times as the web series also talks about the personal lives of the geniuses along which I felt misplaced and could have shortened by few episodes.

Rocket Boys boast of some of the finest performances in recent times. To start with first and the foremost are Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh who gave knockout performance as they deep-dives into the body language of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Arjun Radhakrishnan is simply superb as APJ Abdul Kalam who strikes a perfect balance in the beautiful story. Apart from these, Regina Cassandra, Saba Azad, Rajit Kapoor and Rajiv Kachroo were a solid support.

On the whole, Rocket Boys is nice, brave attempt with wonderful direction and hard-hitting performances. Good 3/5. Go for it.

My Take – A definitive watch!

 

Fame Game – A global superstar, wife, and mom suddenly vanishes without a trace. As police and loved ones search for answers to her disappearance, her perfectly crafted facade is stripped away, revealing hidden truths and painful lies in the life of an iconic actress.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

The Fame Game tells the story of the most popular actress India, Anamika Anand (played by Madhuri Dixit) who is living two lives - one of a superstar and one of a dedicated wife, mother, friend, mentor and a loner, who is forced to make choices. The main event triggers when the India's most loved star disappears all of sudden and neither her family nor her friends have any clue about it. What follows next is the hunt, investigation and interrogations which includes dark secrets and fantasies of the superstar and her beloved people.

The Fame Game, kind of, pays tribute to the shining star in every possible way by breaking into her song, Chane Ke Khet Mein, or divulging into her scene from her previous films. This will definitely be a treat to her fans.

Unfortunately, the web series starts of well but loses the focus later with wafer-thin script which could have been sharper and convincing in this eight episode glamour drama. The editing should have been tighter with few episodes trimmed down to make it a better watch. Even though the cracks start appearing in the plot, the performances of the actors will keep you hooked coupled with grandeur sets, astounding back ground score and above all - Madhuri Dixit

The Fame Game belongs to the epitome of talent, Madhuri Dixit, who shines bright in each and every scene that will make you fall in love with her.

My Take – See only for Madhuri Dixit.  Else you can slip it.

 

Rudra: The Edge of Darkness – In the crime-ridden streets of Mumbai, journeying through the maze of psychopathic minds is brilliant super-cop Rudra Veer Singh.  An official Hindi remake of the hit BBC series Luther.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

The British TV series "Luther" was quite a mix of plenty of sourceful materials. The series has been adapted four times (American, Russian, Korean, and French) before Rudra, and a few of them managed to convert some things while keeping the essence intact. With Rudra, it wasn't possible because those things which are quite normal in foreign countries can't be termed logical in India. For a long time, there has been a big difference between our culture and foreign cultures, despite the fact that we have been in the process of westernisation for a long time. The only possible chance for Rudra was to Indianise things and rely heavily on the performances. Well, somehow it misses the former part while gaining the latter one.

Set in Mumbai, Rudra is about a smart, dedicated investigation officer, Rudra (Ajay Devgn), who is consumed by the darkness of the crimes and his relationship issues with his wife, Shaila (Esha Gupta). In the first murder investigation of the series, he meets a brilliant and intelligent psychopath killer, Aliyah (Raashii Khanna). He knows that she is the killer but is unable to arrest her due to a lack of evidence. Meanwhile, she develops an interest in him and later becomes his assistant in crime. The first episode is entirely focused on Rudra and Aliyah, while the next episodes have different murder cases and different conflicts. Rudra starts off on an average note, and you don't even feel that satisfaction after watching the first episode. But then it picks up in the second and third episodes, where intriguing murder mysteries keep it engaging. Then it has another good case in the 4th episode that somehow carries the momentum forward, only to lose it in the next two episodes. The conclusion part is really messy and even looks out of context. Nevertheless, they don't bore you to death. The middle portion definitely adds on to the passing marks, and that's all you can expect from it.

As previously stated, Rudra is heavily reliant on the great acting unit's performances. Ajay Devgn scores high on merit in his digital debut. Those intense eyes, his dialogue delivery, not a scene where you see him going out of character. He is so focused on this messy world of Rudra, and all of it is unbelievable yet acceptable. The best after him is, of course, Raashii Khanna. This girl is here to stay. She has nailed this psycho character, and she looks hot too. Don't tell me you get to see these two things together often. Esha Deol is good enough with whatever scenes she has got, but I think the writer could have offered more variations on her character. This paragraph is incomplete unless I mention those two supporting actors who have made this acting unit shine brighter than it deserves. Ashwini Kalsekar and Atul Kulkarni. What a troupe of talent they are. Believe it or not, in the last two episodes, Atul Kulkarni is even better than the lead actors.

Not minding many of those locations, Rudra could have easily found better things to display. From the episode, you know that it's somehow stuck in the same places, except for those murder premises that take place somewhere else. The cinematography of Rudra was a difficult job to do as it had to bring darkness into the series as well as on the screen. You can't make it too dark because a small screen experience might make it more dull, so it had to find one intermediate point. The same applies for editing too, and I must say, both results are pretty nice. The background score is just superb. It reminded me of Hans Zimmer's score from "The Dark Knight". Now you can imagine how superb it is.

The crime thriller genre is new to director Rajesh Mapuskar. He has done vibrant and light-hearted films like "Ventilator" and "Ferrari Ki Sawaari" and even his filmography as an assistant director belongs to the "Hirani Genre". Rudra is far away from those films; it's very dark and intense, so for a new student, I must say, it's a fine attempt. However, there are unforgivable flaws in the second half of the series that he could have avoided, and he deserves to be blamed for that. Rest assured, it's a watchable crime thriller for crime thriller fans and a must-watch for Ajay Devgn and Raashii Khanna's fans because these two have literally lit up this dark-toned half-dead series. Produced by Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios, Rudra is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!  In case you haven’t, watch Luther too😊!! 

 

Reacher – Reacher, based on popular novel, hits the web. The series consists of eight episodes and all of them have been released simultaneously. Reacher is based on the debut novel of Lee Child's Jack Reacher book series, which has multiple editions published since 1997. The series has been adapted for the screen by Nick Santora.

Lee Child has written 25 Jack Reacher novels so far and I have read each of them😊!!

When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for a murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a former U. S. Army military policeman, now lives as a drifter carrying only his passport, cash, and a French military service medal. Upon his arrival in the rural town of Margrave, Georgia, Reacher is arrested for his suspected murder of a man found dead near an overpass. Boston born and Harvard educated Chief Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) is suspicious of Reacher while Officer Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) is more receptive of Reacher's presence in the town. When a banker named Paul Hubble (Marc Bendavid) confesses to the crime without any corroborating evidence Reacher becomes embroiled in a mystery which only raises more questions when it's revealed the man murdered under the overpass was in fact Reacher's estranged brother Joe.

Based on the Jack Reacher series of books by Lee Child, Reacher marks the latest attempt to mine the books for adaptation following the Tom Cruise led film franchise fizzling out with the divisive follow up Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. While I enjoyed the Tom Cruise films to a degree (even the second one wasn't terrible) it's undeniable Tom Cruise did not match the description Child created in the books. Now free of the constraints that come with feature films and given more breathing room with 8 episodes, Reacher is fun detective fiction that creates an engaging narrative and a likable protagonist played by Alan Ritchson.

Alan Ritchson is fantastic as Reacher as he plays the character as a man with a strong sense of justice. Reacher doesn't actively seek out trouble, but if it happens to find him he makes it clear that it will regret having sought him out. Ritchson gives the character a lot of humor with his laid back charisma leading to some genuinely humorous moments between the various baddies he encounters as well as in his alliances with Finlay and Roscoe. Malcolm Goodwin is a solid ally for Reacher as despite being a man of intellect and character, he's not above getting his hands (or his tweed suit) dirty in pursuit of ridding the town of corruption despite often being looked upon as an outsider. Willa Fitzgerald is really good as Roscoe who has great chemistry with Ritchson and despite being a love interest isn't overly sexualized and can hold her own against the villains. The show's mystery is engaging with Reacher and his allies tracking down leads throughout the town of Margrave with actors like Bruce McGill, Chris Webster, Willie C. Carpenter, Harvey Guillen, and Kristin Kreuk giving solid performances as the various characters Reacher and company come into contact with.

Reacher is terrific entertainment. Alan Ritchson is perfectly cast as the titular Jack Reacher and is surrounded by a solid supporting cast who make the mystery entertaining and thrilling. The show promises even further adventures for the character derived from the books and if they stay at the level of this season, I can see this having legs.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!!

Cheers till next time😊!

Daffy Definition

Expert – One who knows more and more about less and less😊!