#Scoop on #Netflix is a mature, intelligent show; one that does not resort to stunts and high drama but stays realistic and true to the narrative. Take the conclusion for example - there is no dramatic court verdict, no hurrah, no celebratory outburst; instead the news is broken gently and personally and life just carries on just as it normally would. #Scoop is #HansalMehta’s take on the inner workings of the Indian media industry based on the prison memoirs of #JignaVora’s “Behind bars in Byculla : My days in prison”. She was arrested for the murder of fellow crime reporter #JyortimoyDey in 2011.
#KarishmaTanna plays the role of her career as journalist Jagruti Pathak, Deputy Bureau Chief at The Eastern Age. She sees people as human beings first and not just as a source of information. She is a single mom, fearless, close to her family and has an amazing ability to hustle the system. No wonder she has made it from journalist to deputy bureau chief in record time. She also has to manage frequent propositions from JCP Harshvardhan Shroff (#HarmanBaweja, in a surprisingly well casted character). The six part series is almost made up of two parts - the first three parts show how Pathak outshines other colleagues with her proximity to the cops, her ability to source scoops and her constant desire to be close to the action. In the latter half, it is these very qualities that turn against her as the system, the cops and even her intern go after her. There is an element of speculative suspicion that casts a shadow on people who are able to fast track their careers, especially women.
#Scoop is the kind of terrain where #HansalMehta can now cruise through with his eyes shut. Along with co-creator #MrunmayeeLagooWaikul, this intense real life drama captures the innards of the Indian media world. The character sketches are brilliant. The casting is impeccable with the likes of #MdZeeshanAyub (playing Imran - Jagruti’s editor Imran who has her back through the trying circumstances), the cherubic #DevenBhojani as her favorite Mama, #TanishtaChattejee as the chief of a rival publication, #TejaswiniKolhapure and #ShikhaTalsania as the god women inside the prison, #TanmayDhanania as the jealous junior and that iconic evergreen thespian of Bangla cinema #ProsenjitChatterjee plays the reporter, Jaideb Sen, who is murdered. Jagruit’s son Neel is an admirable child as he takes the blow on his chin but stands up for his mother and becomes a pillar in her fightback.
The opening scene of the show has an innocuous black and white segment where a father congratulates his daughter for her column in one of the pages, but she turns around and rubbishes it saying it's either the front page or nothing. And that sets the tone for the #Scoop. In the early days of print journalism, all you wanted was your byline on the front page…. And the go-getters would go all out to get there.. Sometimes skating on very thin ice. Somewhere along the show, there is a side track between Pushkar (#TanmayDhanania) and his wife played by Ira Dubey where ironically she talks about sexual discrimination at her place of work. I think the point being made in the show is that the very things that got Jagruti quick success also leads to us viewing them with a jaundiced and malicious eye when she gets into serious trouble. And when as a career woman, you get close to someone of the opposite sex at work, it is always the woman who ends up taking the brunt of any controversy.
#Scoop deliberates on the unholy nexus between the police and the undercover dons, as also uncovers facts about the stringent laws - the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime ordinance of 1999 links crime to terrorist activity and is considered a top threat and therefore laws that are extremely stringent. #Mehta’s detailing of the conversations at the Press Club, the representation of the Ghatkopar colony where Jagruti resides and the office dynamics at the Eastern Age and the City Mirror are very nuanced.
#KarishmaTanna carries the show on her shoulders. She started out on the tele series Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi when she was all of 18. Today, 22 years later, she eases into her character with consummate ease. The prospect of an innocent life being run into the ground by vested interests makes your blood boil. The second half does become a little tedious with the scenes at the Byculla jail being a tad predictable as torture, violence and god women abound - it is a vertiable throwback to the 90s kind of agony and emotional turnoil that the protagnist goes through!
#DanishSait plays a cameo as the TV news anchor. His bulletins are like a satirical challenge to the audience, like holding up a mirror to the reality of our times and how our perceptions are swayed by what we are shown. Meanwhile, the show also has some genuinely interesting scenes and dialogues - watch out for the #HansalMehta cameo where he plays a lawyer and tells Jagruti “If you want to be late, become an actor”. #Scam92 actor #PratikGandhi makes a blink-and-you-miss appearance. Md Zeeshan Ayub’s Imran cites a quote by Jonathan Foster, Professor of journalism at the University of Sheffield “If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fucking window and find out which is true”
#Bumbada has a very short role but leaves a telling impact as the senior journalist. #RaviMahashabde as Shroff’s handyman in the system Jagtap is quiet but exceptional. And #JaiminiPathak as the defense counsel floors you in the final episode with his wit, sarcasm and flamboyance.
#Scoop has some glaring shortcomings as well. The tale of #Shroff as the aging cop with health issues does not go anywhere and one is left asking what happened to that particular story. The scenes inside Byculla jail are very 90s trope inspired and sometimes in sharp contrast to the gentle build up of the show. Perhaps that is deliberate but I do think some of the scenes could have been eschewed. All said, #Scoop is definitely worth a watch. I am just happy that there is no season 2 in the offing!
