36 Days (Season 1)
Introduction
Very early on in the new Hindi show 36 Days, it is established that it is a whodunnit. Picture this – a lady crying inconsolably only to be pacified until a body of a woman is discovered in the villa. This triggers a series of flashbacks leading to the murder with every character supposedly having a motive. But the main flaw of the show is that not all the subplots come together at the end, making the whodunnit just about decent while running the risk of it being bland. Whodunnits are always an exciting proposition provided if the viewers are coaxed into playing the guessing game. The trick is to associate every character to the central plot of the murder while tagging them with a motive, and each motive so strong that it does lead to calculations about the details of the murder. And this is usually done through the lens of an investigating officer that pieces together the giant jigsaw puzzle to solve the mystery. But this is where 36 Days changes its course, for the better or for the worse, wherein the viewers are acquainted with the character dynamics of folks on the show with regard to the central character. And by the end of it you wonder on how certain subplots just deviated from the central plot, adding little to nothing to the overall mystery. But then is the show 36 Days a complete washout, or does it have some moments of redemption, let’s find out.
Story & Screenplay
Based on the BBC Show titled 35 Days, 36 Days follows the story behind the chain of events leading up to the murder of a woman who is found lying in a pool of blood. And this chain of events of 36 days acts as an extended flashback exploring the character dynamics between the characters and briefly flirting with the intended motives. Unfortunately by the end of it, it doesn’t quite piece together and fit the jigsaw puzzle although the drama is still watchable. The idea of drawing multiple offshoots of the drama can be justified if each offshoot has a definitive purpose in the overall scheme of things. So while the screenplay standing at 8 episodes of roughly 30 odd to 40 odd minutes does have an indulgent world building and interesting characterization, the multiple subplots could have been trimmed in order to have a focused narration revolving around the character which was eventually murdered. It is worth mentioning that if a couple of characters were wiped off the blocks, the eventual outcome still wouldn’t have been quite affected, something that is symbolic of some of the loose ends in the drama.
The drama opens on a startling note of the body of a woman being discovered before launching an extended flashback with the introduction of key players of this drama. From their very first impression, you can judge that each character is grey – one being a man filled with might and bravado while having homophobic traits often frowning when his partner brings her friend at home. There is a character indulging in internet s*x oblivious to his wife and children. There is also a subplot involving a family involved in a drugs racket involving a local don and the police. On the other side, you have a character grappling with the idea of his ‘soon-to-be-broken-marriage’ even as he is attracted to a newbie who enters the estate. And so, this world building was quite intriguing given that you as a viewer is undecided on which thread would ultimately link to the eventual murder that is committed.
The one thing that is lacking in this whodunnit is that the writing never quite showcases the events *after* the murder was committed. The difference in body language is a key ingredient in a whodunnit for the viewers to indulge in a guessing game. But if the focus is only on the events leading up to the murder, the only thing working in favour of the drama is the character motivations in hindsight, given that I wasn’t sure on which thread would link to the eventual event. But at the same time, you would kind of feel a little letdown with the other links if they wouldn’t quite be linked to the murder in any capacity. And this is what the show suffers from, the world building is intriguing with an interesting mix of characters, but it doesn’t exactly soar above the intended motivations of the characters.
The stakes in the drama remain mid almost right through the drama. Yes, the character arcs are there but the show heavily relies on the dynamics between characters, instead of some sort of twists and turns in the screenplay. To be fair, there is a twist at the halfway mark and some interesting twists in the first half of the drama. But unfortunately, none of the intended twists have large implications on the conclusion with the focus inexplicably shifting on a potential revenge plot which is decent but doesn’t quite give you that high at the end of the day. And that also was a major foundation on which the drama was built on, which didn’t seem to have a good stranglehold on the proceedings. The good thing about the drama is that the murderer of the show is revealed in the final reel of the drama. But the events leading up to that(even before the logical conclusion) seemed to be unnecessary and just not linking seamlessly to the conclusion, something that was focused on more than the actual events that triggered the murder. The staging seemed a little diluted and abrupt thereby concluding the drama that remained passable in the whodunnit space.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are understated and certainly go well with the mood of the drama. The BGM is gentle but stimulating and comtributes well to the mysterious ambience of the drama. The production design is excellent with the home decor adding an aesthetic feel to the drama. The cinematography is quite good but found a little wanting at a few places particularly towards the backend of the drama which didn’t quite land the finishing blow accurately. The editing is decent as well and maintains the flow of the drama rather well. Director Vishal Furia does a good job with the world building and characterization but briefly falters with the connecting tissue of linking all the subplots to the eventual event. The staging at the end was abrupt too but I still feel he handled the character dynamics pretty well which was really the core of the show. The direction wasn’t the best but it wasn’t too bad either.
Performances
The performances are incredibly good by the ensemble cast here. Palvi Jaswal as Shonali has a good screen presence in an overall job done pretty well. Khushi Bharadwaj as Aditi, Bianca Arora as Anushka and Sarah Gesawat as Ella have their moments to shine. Shweta Mehta as Kleo is first rate as well and manages to hold her own in a few scenes. Shivam Patil as Bobo is impressive in a character that is underwritten as does KC Shankar as Noel who is excellent here. Chahat Vig as Sia has an interesting character arc culminating with realisation of having to stay with a toxic personality, and she does a pretty good job here. Faisal Rashid as Riyad is pretty good here although he goes slightly overboard with the intended emotions of his character. Kenneth Desai as Denzel is phenomenal as a character trapped under the trapping of his own action, and the kind of emotions that he brings to the table is fabulous to witness.
Sushant Divgikar as Tara has a stellar screen presence and does an incredible job, never missing a single beat of her character. The duality of her character as revealed at the end was expertly pulled off by Sushant who is absolutely wonderful to watch. Shernaz Patel as Benaifer is such a natural onscreen and it is always a pleasure to witness the magic that she often extracts in her performance. This was by no means an easy character to portray, and she brought out the complexities of her character with perfection. Shruti Seth as Radhika portrays her character with a lot of grace and restraint while beholding her vulnerabilities pretty well. Sharib Hashmi as Vinod is excellent as always although I did feel that his character didn’t quite has a resounding impact to the overall conclusion due to the less impactful writing. But he still manages to do a splendid job. Amruta Khanvilkar as Lalita is fiery and does a stellar job, almost being unabashed with her words and actions that makes for a solid impact.
Chandan Roy Sanyal as Tony is a character with several toxic traits and a narcissist of sorts, and Chandan does a smacking job with his character almost infuriating the viewers at certain junctures of the drama. Purab Kohli as Rishi is wonderfully understated and does a good job in being well within his character who happens to hold many cards to his chest. The emotions originating from his character are pure and it does account for a wonderful watch. Neha Sharma as Farah looks pretty and does a wonderful job by creating an aura of mystery around her character. She is terrific in scenes that need her to emote in an unfiltered manner, and she quite comes out on top with her searingly wonderful act.
Conclusion
36 Days is a whodunnit that doesn’t quite land with the writing but more than makes up with its performances thereby accounting for a decent watch overall. Available on SonyLiv.
