The most trending topic in social media at present is Paatal Lok. This crime thriller drama released on Amazon Prime is receiving huge applause from the audience. Many of them are terming it as the best in the Indian series. Is it just hype or is 'Paatal Lok' really wonderful?
Sudip Sharma, who penned stories for 'NH10', 'Udta Punjab' is the creator of this web series. This series is based on Tarun Tejpal's book 'The Story Of My Assasins'. Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy directed the series. Anushka Sharma bankrolled this series under Clean Slate Films banner.
Let's get into the story now. Except for small cases, Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) didn't handle a high profile case in his 20 years of career. He gets a big case for the first time.
Police arrest four criminals who hatched a conspiracy to kill a popular journalist Sanjeev Mehra(Neeraj Kabi). Hathi Ram starts investigating the case with the help of his subordinate Ansari (Ishwak Singh). He comes to know some chilling truths regarding the killer gang leader Vishal Tyagi Alias 'Hathoda' Tyagi(Abhishek Banarjee).
As Hathi Ram is investigating the case fast with the help of small clues and chasing bigwigs, he gets suspended by showing some reason and the case will be handed over to CBI later. Hathi Ram doesn't stop his investigation even after suspension.
He unearths some bitter truths along with a huge political conspiracy in his investigation. Who hatched a conspiracy for the killing of Sanjeev Mehra? All the things that are visible to our eyes are truths or are they nothing but diversions to hide the truths?
The success of any series depends on one aspect, i.e, to make the audience watch it without a break. The talent of the creator lies in making the audience watch it episode after episode immediately. There are 9 episodes in 'Paatal Lok' and each episode is 40+ minutes.
After watching the first episode, it makes you to watch 9 episodes at a stretch. On top of it, it makes you feel that there should be another episode after the 9th episode! So, you can assume how good the series is.
Not just the story has layers in it.. but every main character has layers and it is the specialty of the series. It is clearly evident throughout the series on how the writers put in their best efforts on penning the story and designing the characterizations.
When each episode is 40+ minutes and the series is 9 episodes long, it is not an easy job for the makers to maintain the tempo till the end without the audience losing interest.
Unexpected twists, unbeatable suspense at the end of every episode, the flashback of every character, or the changing opinions on the characters that change according to the situations, is a perfect example of a great piece of writing.
When they are showing a dark kingdom, there will be terrifying truths like chilling crimes on children and violent abuse of women. The directors didn't sugarcoat or made the audience 'visualize' by hiding the violence. They have shown all those without any inhibitions.
The characters that don't care about human lives, show immense love on animals is surprising. At the same time, it is meaningful because it is a crucial point in the story.
The series convinces the people that how CBI can depict a common murder attempt as a terrorist plot for its own benefit and how media can take the fake news into the people to become a 'hero'.
It also reiterates that in any horror that happened in Swarg Lok(The Rich), the people who are at the receiving end, the people who suffer are from Paatal Lok(The Poor).
Paatal Lok has shown how the crimes on minorities happen in a crystal clear fashion, it has also shown how easily Muslims are branded as terrorists. A Muslim father asks "I didn't raise my boy as even a Muslim. How could you make him a Terrorist?"
Needless to say, his question haunts us. When a person from the lower caste revolts against the upper caste, "My son told your son that his father will rape your mother. To prove his statement right, not just me, the ten people with me will rape you" and rapes her in front of her family. The makers have picturized those scenes fearlessly. They have shown the situations faced by poor people realistically.
Is everything in Swarg Lok only happiness and Peace? They will have their anxieties, there will be wives who are heartbroken with the affairs of their hubbies, the relief they get from the stray dogs, physical relationships without considering the age and their deep wounds on the hearts, the people who climb the ladder by 'using' the opportunities. There will be many bloodstains behind the lives of celebrities. Paataal Lok is a mirror of our society.
The lead character becoming an 'underdog police' in this series is a routine feature. Like 'Family Man', 'Special Ops', the makers added the family angle as part of the story. The brother-in-law who tricks his wife, the teenage son who doesn't care his father are additional headaches for Hathi Ram and they are in perfect sync with the proceedings.
The relation between Hathi Ram and his wife(Gul Panag) is presented beautifully. In an instance, Hathi Ram slaps his wife. When he comes back, his wife reciprocates his hubby with a slap. That's it. No response or reaction.
The biggest asset for this series is star cast. Jaideep Ahlawat has utilized this once in a lifetime opportunity. He touched the hearts in the scenes where he is going to encounter a problem or he lands into trouble. Neeraj Kabi has portrayed his gray shades with dignity and ease.
The scenes for Abhishek Banerjee as Hathoda Tyagi are less but he has shown how a cruel killer looks like. Gul Panag, Swastika Mukharjee, Niharika Lyra Dutt have thrown their weight behind the series with their different lady characters.
The cinematography, production design, music are in sync with the dark mood of the series and they are on par with a Bollywood film. Indian series has just started showing impact and Paatal Lok is in the standard that throws a challenge to the international series.
Start watching the series if you have 6-7 hours of time without any disturbance. For the audience who has the habit of watching the series without a break, it is a quarantine gift from Amazon Prime.
Bottom Line: The world should watch!