Bajao (Season 1)
Introduction
It is still a Wednesday but I do have a new release to cover! With that, I finished watching the new Hindi webseries, the first season of Bajao on Jio Cinema. For a change, the OTT platform did promote Bajao relatively well(as compared to some of its other shows) wherein the show did promise to be a quirky comedy with music as an underlying layer. I was quite interested in watching Raftaar in his acting debut and curious on how he will cope with the medium. But before that just a little gripe!
I was reading yesterday that the Jio Cinema show Taali is one of the highest viewed shows in recent times. While I did find the show a bit of a hit and a miss, the point to be considered it that people will watch the show with interest provided ALL episodes of the show are released in a single go. While the Jio Cinema strategy is not as baffling as Hotstar, they need to reconsider their strategy by trying to release all episodes of the show in a single go. In the reel culture and with a plethora of content, no one really would be waiting to tune in everyday for a fresh episode unless it is a marquee series. With content just being dumped on the platform, that aspect is clearly taken out of the equation, so the only thing that can be done differently is to release all episodes together and empower the viewers with the flexibility of watching the show as per their preference. That would also benefit the show to a large extent while allowing a scope for discussions to prevail surrounding it. Something to ponder on for the OTT Platform to prevent it from going the MX Player route! But then is Bajao worth your time, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
The first season of Bajao follows the story of three friends who get entangled in the world of crime after they decide to launch their own label and shoot a music video with an upcoming singer. Will they find their way out of the mess? The story here is quirky and did promise to be a mad-hatter comedy right from the very beginning. The screenplay standing at 8 episodes ranging from 20 odd minutes to 40 odd minutes is essentially about the two halves of the show. While the first four episodes were outstanding wherein I found myself laughing hysterically, there is a considerable lag in the final 4 episodes which were essentially a bit of a hit and a miss kind of a ride for me. However, the dip wasn’t steep enough to derail the show completely thus resulting in a decent outing overall.
The drama starts of on a Hangover-esque note with the introduction of the three protagonists who wake up with no memory of their fourth pal. This was an interesting premise as it kick started the humour quotient almost immediately in the drama. There was a sense of mystery surrounding the protagonists with only flashes of the previous night that are exposed to the viewers every now and then. Suddenly, the stakes of the show are further increased with the introduction of the timer that adds to the urgency of the drama. From this hilarious plot plot, the show branches into two parallel timelines of the past featuring the events leading up to the mess that is created, and the present with the timer ticking for the protagonists to find a bag of money along with their friend. It is an interesting scenario that does result in loads of laughter early on.
The proceedings are fairly interesting wherein the writing shines on particularly in the first half of the show. The quirkiness of the theme is consistently maintained throughout, and the introduction of multiple characters further adds to the chaos in a very good way. The issue in the screenplay starts in the second half when the writing starts getting a little scattered. The events were a tad less funny and there was a considerable lag in the screenplay, attributing to certain scenes that went on forever rather than being trimmed off at the correct time. I wondered if the runtime of the show could have been reduced by doing away with a couple of the subplots on the show.
Despite the flaws, I did find myself smiling in spurts and jerks which was testimony to the fact that the writing did not derail the show even with its flaws. There were certain scenes that were genuinely funny, particularly the entire sequence at the hotel room which had me smiling away at the turn of events. The events leading up to the final act were adequate, leading upto a simplistic final act which was a tad underwhelming but on the whole, the screenplay is decently well written with a great premise, only tapering towards the back end of the show.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are outstanding and possibly one of the highlights of the show. The quirky humour combined with multiple cuss words had me chuckling and laughing hysterically at times. The music is pretty good as well and it represents the vibe of the drama perfectly. The cinematography is excellent capturing some freshly lit frames perfectly. Even the live animation in the screenplay was very well integrated in the drama. The editing was also the tricky part here with multiple instances of the drama going to and fro across timelines. And the editor did a good job although there were a few continuity issues that I spotted. Directors Shiva Varma and Saptaraj Chakraborty do a decent job here, beginning on a tremendous note with some hilariously staged sequences. But there are portions in the second half where certain sequences could have been staged better too which can be attributed to a little inexperience. But they all of them show a spark of their skills which will keep getting better in times to come.
Performances
The performances are pretty good here. Vikrant Kaul as Rahul and Shrashti Maheshwari as Hansika have their moments to shine. Nitin Rao as Faazil is first rate, Bonny as Iffi is amazing to watch as well. Mona Lisa as Tanvi does a good job despite a limited screen time and I do wish to watch more of her going forward. Nitish Pandey probably in one of his final appearances as Karam is well restrained and lovely to watch. Rajesh Sharma as Dharam is intimidating but with a streak of humour in a job well done. Indresh Malik as Gurdas is hilarious with his comedy and the manner in which he will make you laugh hystetically with the way in which he mouths some of the cuss words.
Addinath Kothare as OG is a revelation here. If you were to tell me that can Addinath pull off the role of a North Indian rapper, I would have disregarded the statement immediately. But he was so convincing here in a role wherein he could have even gone overboard! He is phenomenal here. Mahira Sharma as Sonal is cute and she does manage to impress with her antics that generate humour at certain places.
Raftaar as Babbar makes a confident debut here. He looked superbly comfortable in front of the camera and put forth a commendable act. Sahil Vaid as Kuki has an impeccable sense of comedy and he puts it to full use here with his poker faced dialogue delivery. He was simply hilarious here. Sahil Khattar as Dhaari is incredibly good as well and he just nails some of the one-liners assigned to him.
Tanuj Virwani as Ved is the most sane person of the group although with a streak of humour as well. And he is outstanding here, at times holding back with restraint and allowing his co-actors to take center stage. It is a sign of an actor who is very secured about his craft and always willing to contribute to the scene as opposed to looking only at his performance. The three of them manage to create a laugh riot for most of the screen time that features them together.
Conclusion
Despite its flaws, the first season of Bajao is a mad-hatter crime comedy with some hilarious performances that makes for a good one-time watch. Available on Jio Cinema.