Shehar Lakhot

Alright, let's dive into Shehar Lakhot, a Hindi neo-noir thriller directed by Navdeep Singh, the bloke behind the cult classic Manorama Six Feet Under and the gritty NH10. Singh's knack for crafting tense, atmospheric crime dramas set in India's dusty heartlands is evident, but this series doesn't quite hit the highs of his earlier work.

Set in the fictional Rajasthan town of Lakhot, this eight-episode series follows Dev (Priyanshu Painyuli), a brooding fixer dragged back to his hometown, only to get tangled in a web of crime, betrayal, and murky politics. The vibe? Think Chinatown meets Rajasthan's marble mines, with a dash of dark humour.

The cast is the real gem here. Painyuli nails Dev's shambolic charm, carrying the weight of a haunted past with ease. Chandan Roy Sanyal as the slimy Kairav Singh steals every scene, oozing menace and wit, while Kubbra Sait's tenacious cop Pallavi adds grit. Shruthy Menon and the unhinged twins (Manjiri Pupala and Sanjay Shiv Narayan) round out a stellar ensemble.

But the pacing? Oh, mate, it's a slog at times. The narrative sprawls with subplots (some gripping, others bloated) making episodes feel overstretched, especially with those hour-long runtimes. By episode five, it picks up, delivering twists that keep you hooked, but the slow-burn start tests your patience.

Visually, it's atmospheric, though Singh could've leaned harder into Rajasthan's stark beauty. The dialogue's sharp, if a tad coarse. Not Singh's finest, but Shehar Lakhot is a solid watch for neo-noir fans who don't mind a bumpy ride.

7/10.

Went with high expectations after catching the excellently cut trailer, but was hugely disappointed. The series is set in the town of Lakhot somewhere in Rajasthan (though the cars have an RJ27 registration, so I think it was shot in or near Udaipur). It is a sleepy marble stone mining town, where our protagonist Devendra Singh Tomar (Priyanshu Painyuli), a negotiator working for Centre Marbles a supposed giant in the sector is sent (from Gurgaon to Lakhot) to work out a deal with the local protesting Kachdaar tribe, and the company executives of Centre Marble. The fight is over a slain deer on the mining land of the company, reminding us of the Bishnoi community of course. Dev himself has some bad blood with the town and the people living including his family. What follows is Dev getting muddled into the mysteries of the town where everybody hates him for some reason and trying to turn a new leaf for the sake of his family and an old flame.

Navdeep Singh tried emulating the same things that worked for him when he made Manorama Six Feet Under while writing Lakhot. So much so that he has set the series in the same city that his first movie took part in. No prizes for guessing this - Lakhot! But the reason why Manorama worked was because of its taught plot and interesting characters. It was a perfect neo-noir thriller complete with femme fatales, men from royalty turned dubious politicians, etc. And who did the makers have to thank for this excellently written film? Why, but Robert Towne and Roman Polanski! Because the entire movie was heavily inspired by the 1974 Oscar-winning screenplay of Chinatown! It's also weird that the two films that have worked well for Navdeep, i.e. NH10 and Manorama are both almost-remakes of Eden Lake and Chinatown respectively. The two times he tried something original with Laal Kaptaan and Lakhot, he has failed miserably.

None of the characters generate any interest or sympathy from the audience, nor do they try to do so, because the writing is such. Most of what Priyanshu Painyuli tries to say as Dev is quickly cut down by the five expletives he uses in the sentence, which leaves the audience perplexed! You'd have to peel through the alternately placed profanity to decode a sentence. So, the screenplay sucks! Chandan Roy Sanyal who is the villain is the only person who has been given a meaty role and he righteously delivers. But you don't have an ounce of a clue about how and why the characters are the way they are. So, it doesn't really matter. The makers give you quick-cut childhood flashbacks for most characters to give you a semblance of a backstory. But they add to the bore.

It was torture to sit through the entire series.

Watching the first episode and it's trying too hard to be quirky but the story isn't going anywhere. Too slow and boring. The first episode has the younger son returning to a small town and going around from place to place doing nothing in particular. One character breaks a guy's hand and 2 scenes later another character, acting over the top, kills an injured dog. The fat cop keeps on pulling his crotch in every scene and bows down on front of the dog killer. What are these scenes? Is this the best that can be done to introduce characters? Why and how such shows are greenlight, I wonder. They think violence, nasty and brooding characters, abuses is creativity. EDGY is the word used in the industry. Unfortunately they are wrong. They are all rejected film scripts turned into bad webseries.

Do not let the negative reviews fool you into not watching this masterpiece. For those coming from dysfunctional homes, who have had aspirations and dreams in their childhood, this movie hits home hard.

There not a single flaw that I can find in the plot. The first two episodes may seem a bit of a drag but you end up realising that they were necessary to set tone and introduce characters.

Almost all actors have lived the characters they played, with the male lead and the quirky villain's side-kick Bhi, taking a leaf out of golden chops book.

The entire police, government and business nexus is shown wonderfully. Decadence in society, insecurities of the younger brother, women's dilemmas and the yearn for freedom is portrayed wonderfully in small video bites, where expressions, actings and settings say more than words can portray. The dark ambience of the entire series gives it a 'morose home town' vibe, which is apt for a plot like this.

Do not miss this for the world! It's wonderfully shot and presented, and the story and characters will stay with you for a long time after you've completed the series.

Sometimes, the newer Indian series can be very good, especially if they tackle social issues in a changing India. This unfortunately is not in that category. The writing and narrative for the story is terrible, made worse by the ridiculous way the series is edited with never ending flashbacks that only worsen the viewer's ability to understand how it relates to the characters. There is little in the way of story continuity, character context or development. It makes the assumption that the intended audience already understands the caste system, and justice process in India, hence it really has no global appeal at all. As the series progresses, very little happens, and the plot just seems to go nowhere. Gave up after the third episode.