indraniaray

I am loathe to criticise other people's work as a lot of sweat and toil go in but the recent spate of subpar shows shows across platforms have been disheartening.

I thought Charlie Chopra was disappointing (from a Director I regard so highly) but PI Meena just broke my heart - the evident lack of effort in its writing is hard to digest and a criminal waste of resource and opportunity IMO.

In there somewhere lies a story that could have been, but it is crushed under its own sprawling ambition and inability to pull it all in cohesively in a taut narrative which is key for this genre. In a classic case of tell not show, the verbosity is tiring and needless. Meena's character quirks don't land most of the time because the character is just handed some "cool "markers but not vested with authenticity. And as lovely as Tanya Manicktala is, she isn't able to rise above the pedestrian written material.

Once again as is often the case, the writers fail to create authentic workspace dynamics - the way Meena speaks with her Boss is inexcusable, her playing truant and wasting office resources without any consequence or even a slap on her wrist - given that the agency has 2 half baked cases she can't be a star asset really - are just few of the minor points.

In spite of the dark web and virus and terror groups and agencies, the series has a very dated vibe. Meena's constant platitudinal VO is a drudge and gets in the way of the story. The crater-sized and at times improbable laugh-out-loud plot-holes don't help and some of the subplots one could have done without because they do nothing for the story, at all.

Big words are bandied about but protocols and due process (which could have aided the tautness of the narrative) are cavalierly ignored and often there's no context or logic, the series plods on flat as last year's beer with things happening conveniently because they must happen, loose ends flutter in thin air and that climax - don't get me started on the climax. The loose meandering edit really doesn't help.

One's time will be better spent watching Bengali series Indu instead (also on Prime) - made with proper intent and probably 11/3 the budget - it is an engrossing watch.

I love Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah as actors but the whole clan in a series on the back of Shah's recent short film at that is a bit much. Everyone seems to be sleepwalking or hamming. Wamiqa Gabbi does. Not have the chutzpah of a leading lady and her erratic punjabi accent appears sporadically. The series feels scattered. The lighting is terrible. The direction clumsy amd disineterested (never thought I will say this about a VB directorial. The BGM is generic - the sound design not that great. VB said in an interview he had Charlie break the 4th wall to make things immersive - probably influenced by Fleabag) but it is never used smartly - WG is no PWB - you need killer timing to ace this.

A disappointing subpar fare overall.

This is a massive case of what could have been. Such a missed opportunity. Finally watched this film (in 2023) . There's so much regression couched in the "progression" and just terribly unhinged character arcs and story development and tackiness in the garb of modernity -and because R. Balki can rope in the Bachchans he will, no matter what - it was such nonsense hook in this story. The love story never really takes off. And a lot of the subplot popups like the maid using the house - such a trope. Kareena looks gorgeous but is shortchanged - Arjun is so terribly miscast - lacks the charm and sunshine. Swaroop Sampat's dialogues are largely meh and so disappointing. Also Balki's Lust Story core idea came from here. I realised. "Sex kiya" i(especially in this socio economic strata) s literally the grossest way to put this thought out there - like what?! I cringed and fast forwarded my way through. 3 stars just for Kareena.