Kaalkoot(Season 1)
Introduction
It is still a Thursday and we have another new release. With that, I finished watching ALL EPISODES of the new Hindi series Kaalkoot which is now streaming on Jio Cinema. And one of the reasons why I was looking forward to watch the series was because of Vijay Varma, who is in red hot form this year with shows like Dahaad elevating his stance as an actor. It was in my review of Lust Stories 2 though that I had mentioned that he might slightly be getting repetitive although still superlative with his act. So when I got to know that he is essaying the role of a cop in Kaalkoot, my first reaction was that this may well be a role wherein he would break the shackles of his onscreen image. As always, I had skipped the trailer of Kaalkoot in hope that I would go into the series blind. And so I knew nothing about the show and what it had to offer. So then does Kaalkoot manage to impress, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Kaalkoot follows the story of an investigation underway following an acid attack on a woman. Will the cops track down the culprit? The story here might seem to be grim from the outside, but it is laced with dark humour for almost two thirds of the narrative. This, while also presenting a commentary on the social evils that are prevalent in our society related to women and the girl child. The screenplay standing at 8 episodes ranging from 30 odd to 50 odd minutes does account for a gripping narrative that starts off on a rather simplistic note but it does get convoluted as the drama unfolds. It is compelling and exciting in more ways than one!
The drama does begin on a horrific note with an acid attack on a woman which kicks off the show on a rather traumatic note. There was an element of mystery that was established right from the beginning with respect to the culprit whose face is kept under wraps. Soon, you are introduced to the protagonist, a cop by profession and unmarried, who is shown to be balancing his personal and professional life rather awkwardly. He is constantly nagged by his mother to get married while also being disliked by his superiors at work which he plans to resign from. It almost remained unsaid that he hadn’t quite achieved anything at all in life and was questioning his existence while emphasizing on his decision to remain unmarried. This, while he does get embroiled in a rather peculiar case of the acid victim.
The proceedings are interesting and engrossing given how the writers do not take your intellect for granted. There are multiple threads that open up related to the main case, while also establishing multiple ‘unrelated’ subplots regarding other cases that do keep you on your toes. The trick here is to stay attentive throughout, because if you don’t then there is a chance of missing out on some detail which later be linked to the main plot. The writers demand that you are indulgent in the plot that also provides a social commentary on female infanticide along with addresses the stigma of the acid attacks. But the whole chain of events are designed like a whodunnit wherein the revelation of the main culprit is kept under wraps until the very end. This, while the drama continues to get convoluted and murky with every passing event.
The final revelation is indeed satisfactory but I did find minor flaws towards the end. While the writers do an outstanding job in tying all the loose ends together, I still would have liked the motivation of the main culprit to be better highlighted as opposed to a passing reference. I wanted to get a little into his psyche, and I guess it was a direct trade off between holding the mystery intact towards the end versus revealing the culprit and then getting into his head. The turn of events too were slightly filmy with portions of the protagonist’s love story just lagging the proceedings a little. But when the show focuses on the police proceedings, it soars high which does form the majority of the show. So overall, the screenplay is quite well written and ridden with dark humour while meticulously providing a searing commentary on a relevant social evil, all wrapped in a gripping whodunnit.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are very well written and add a lot of substance to the proceedings. The funny one-liners are balanced with thought provoking bouts of poetry that truly make for a phenomenal watch. The music is wonderfully and the songs do shepherd the narrative ahead. The BGM does raise the excitement quotient in the narrative. The multiple twists and turns along the way and backed by a solid background score that elevates the drama at different junctures. The cinematography is excellent here and it captures the vibe of Lucknow wonderfully well. The sudden zoom ins and constantly moving frames supposedly by the use of hand held cameras, does add to the edginess of the drama. Also there is thought given to the frames. To give you a perspective, there are two aerial shots – one in complete darkness, and the other with a little more light while a bike with the front light on traverses through the road. These come at different junctures in the screenplay, the former when there is no real clue about the culprit, abd the other when the case is finally moving, both wonderfully represented through frames.
The editing does get a little patchy but still holds up well overall. The costumes are true to the nature of the profession of various characters while also paying attention to their character traits. A huge shoutout to the makeup and prosthetics department that showcase their skills of representing acid burns(while also healing through the course of the drama) brilliantly. Director Sumit Saxena does an incredible job in creating tense moments with bouts of humour that balances the narrative perfectly. I was thoroughly engaged in the drama and the director deserves a huge round of applause for the same.
Performances
The performances are outstanding here by the ensemble cast. I shall be keeping the names of a few characters under wraps to avoid any spoilers. Jyotii Verma, Basnet Romilla and Amman Sharma have their moments to shine. I was the happiest watching Sudev Nair who has transitioned beautifully from the familiar Malayalam space into the Hindi space. With another of his Hindi show lined up in August, I can’t wait to explore his work in the Hindi space. Here, he looked comfortable and did a splendid job! Enab Khizra as Sonu does a fine job and I did like how her character did fit into the main plot while having her own set of issues. Neeta Mohindra as Parul’s mother is first rate as well.
Seema Biswas as Sudha(Ravi’s mother) lights up the screen with her playful sense of humour. She was terrific to watch. Dheer Hira manages to impress as well despite a limited screen time. Shikha Chauhan as Payal has a good screen presence and does a wonderful job, again despite a limited screen time. Hiba Qamar as Rashmi is just so brilliant here infusing her character with bouts of cuteness(in her first scene) while also showing her worthy acting chops as the drama progresses. Rohan Verma as Maanav is wonderfully restrained and there is a sense of ease that he has in front of the camera in what was a job well done.
Suzanna Mukherjee(you may remember her from Roadies 6) as Shivani has a charming screen presence and is quite affable in her character. Shweta Tripathi Sharma as Parul had little to do in terms of the lines given to her, but her body language and mannerisms with not oy make you empathize with her but also force you to feel her pain. It was a subtly brilliant act by her.
Gopal Datt(looking smart in a stubble) as Jagdish is simply phenomenal here. He balances his quirky humour with a firm assertive demeanor in what was such a refreshing act. Yashpal Sharma as Inspector Yadav is absolutely outstanding in every sense of the word. The budding actors need to note on how effortless he is here, delicately infusing bouts of humour in his performance. And his demeanor still wasn’t caricaturish. He stood out from the crowd wonderfully well.
Vijay Varma has always been a good actor but my fear was him getting repetitive. But just as that thought had crossed my mind, he comes up with Kaalkoot wherein he is simply brilliant as Ravi. His vulnerabilities and insecurities are put to test and the manner in which he portrays them is truly amazing. He is sensational in every scene while never trying to hard to impress. This performance has elevated his stature as a performer by several notches and it might be the start of something big!
Conclusion
Kaalkoot is a convoluted and gripping whodunnit with undertones of dark humour and social evils that makes for a compelling watch. Available on Jio Cinema.