#Kohraa is the fog that shrouds the mystery and intrigue of the murders as the two Punjab policemen unravel the incidents leading up to the crime. It is as much about the fog in the minds of the principal characters as they witness their life decisions and situations coming back to haunt them. The show is more about life and its grays , in as much as the plot is about death.And, what is a tribute to intelligent writing, it is about the fog prevailing over a society that grapples with patriarchy even while integrating with the western world far more than any other region. Our cops Balbir and Garundi do uncover the twin murders but are at their hapless best as they remain ignorant of the shrouds of mystery hanging over contemporary society in Punjab. Showrunner and Executive Producer #SudipSharma could not have come up with a better title for what is delectably one of the best series on offer #Kohraa, now streaming on #Netflix.
Paul Dhillon (#VishalHanda), an NRI is back in his village Jagrana as his family has organized an arranged marriage with Veera (#AnandPriya). Liam (#IvantiyNovak) his half brother is also present. Paul’s father Satwinder ‘Steve’ Dhillon (#ManishChaudhri) is engaged in a land tussle with his estranged brother Manna (#VarunBadola). His son, #HappySingh (#AmaninderPalSingh) is wasted and burning with the childhood trauma of constantly wanting to be validated by his father. Meanwhile, our hapless investigators Balbir (#SuvinderVicky) and his daughter have a tough relationship. Garundi (#BarunSobti) wants to get married and needs to stave off pressures from his family. There is a drug addict who is arrested for stealing Paul’s watch. The bride’s ex, a wannabe artist (#SauravKhurana) finds it tough to let go. There is poverty in the form of a driver who is willing to do anything for cash and politics in the form of the superior officer who urges Balbir to let go of the influential people involved. And there is sex… the opening scene has two youngsters making out in the privacy of an agricultural field even while a stray dog keeps barking; the sexual theme pervades through the six episodes of the show.
The inexorable procedural drama is brilliantly executed as it becomes almost a cultural expose of the tensions in current Punjabi society. The themes touch upon family politics, land disputes, childhood trauma, sexual tensions and of course patriarchy. Director #RandeepJha and creators #GunjitChopra and #DiggiSisodia put together a story that also deals with the derivatives of love. There is the love of the ex-lover, the love that a father feels for his daughter and yet restricts her from being happy and the love that the parents feel for their children who are no more. Or the situation that Indira (#EkavaliKhanna) finds herself in as she is torn between her new love and the fact that her Balbir was responsible for her ex’s death.
One of the scenes has the graffiti “Love is a bitch” written across a wall. There is a gas explosion and a suicide attempt that almost act like red herrings in the procedural investigation. The writing is superb - a lot of dead ends, many suspects, new secrets popping up. But the real hero is how the tragedy rises above the subject of a police investigation and becomes an inquiry into the significance of the place and time . Balbir and Garundi quite often do not get the economic imbalance and the social milieu of the aristocratic lives of those who they are investigating; the link between the clues is thus blurred leaving us to form conclusions and make our own way out of the fog.
#SuvinderVicky with that hangdog expression and expansive paunch is simply brilliant as the tenacious policeman. #HarleenSethi plays his daughter Nimrat; she blames her father for the death of her mother. The violence in the scenes that show Balbir colliding with her lover outside of her marriage are brutal and in your face and yet matter-of-fact in a regressive manner. Balbir’s equation with the junior lady cop Satnam (played with elan by #VeerpalKaurGill) is testimony to how oblivious the senior cop is to life outside his circle. In one scene where the focus is on the investigation, Satnaam is focussed on ordering her frappe. Balbir can only look on with haplessness. Notwithstanding their age difference, he addresses her as ‘Satnam ji’; the junior cop almost becomes the character who induces many a smile amidst the tense drama, but the creators do not let the script run away with this either.
#Kohraa is produced under the #CleanSlate Films banner and #Sudip has previously worked on #PataalLok and #NH10. The intensity is not as high as in #PataalLok but the treatment is slow burn and handled with precise execution. The cinematography by #SaurabhMonga and the background score by #BenedictTaylor and #NarenChandravarkar ensures the tension is kept steady even while the surprises leap out at you.
#Kohraa is easily one of the best shows of this year. The basic plot is not extraordinary; what stands out is the expert execution and how the creators allow the narrative to develop at its own pace while allowing its gray characters to emerge and thus allow the audience to follow multiple tracks seamlessly. I think this marks the next phase of evolution for web series in India, where the ability to hold the narration rock steady is as critical as the shock and awe of the story!
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