Bindiya Ke Bahubali (Season 1)
Introduction
The new Hindi show Bindiya Ke Bahubali has a very specific problem on its hands, while suffering from a similar fate as the third season of Mirzapur. The issue is the verbose trait that the drama indulges in, with multiple characters and multiple subplots that scatter the focus of the viewers. And so the impact of the drama is mostly restricted to how patient the viewer is in absorbing the proceedings, and tracing the events of the show. The moment it relies on the discretion of the viewers, the impact is lowered particularly with the reel-programmed audience with a limited attention span. Additionally, Amazon MX Player’s decision to divide a single season into two seasons doesn’t help too – the writing of the show isn’t designed to end on a cliffhanger that further gives an impression of the show being undercooked. But, if you do choose to immerse yourself in the show, and play bystanders to the power-hungry characters, then there is this momentum-driven thread that does its bit in keeping you engaged throughout its runtime. The redemption quality is specific too – the flavour of the show lies in the dynamics between the characters, that invariably makes this world engaging!
Story & Screenplay
Written by Raj Amit Kumar, Sankalp Rawal, Shivendra Singh and Damon J Taylor, two of the key driving points of Bindiya Ke Bahubali lies in its world building and characterization. The setting remains that of a small village in Bihar called Bindiya that is subjected to caste discrimination and politics, that has essentially divided the clan into two segments – the Davans and the Bhamirs. And whilst this conflict is briefly touched upon in its cold open, the focus remains on the Davans family featuring Bada (Saurabh Shukla) who is suddenly seeded with an ambition to step into the world of the politics. The dynamics remains simple – for years, the Davans have been supporting the ruling party by doing all the dirty work for them right from securing votes to threatening and murdering people to keep the power dynamics intact. In the process, Davans are now a mafia group on the lines of the Corleone family from The Godfather (1972) who have created an empire of their own! But with a step up to this ambition of fighting an election, there are other candidates to the throne as well, from outside and within the family too!
The catalyst to the throne remains the opposition in the form of the ruling party candidate headed by Angad Singh (Govind Namdev) and his two supporters – Narad Singh (Resh Lamba) and Alok Pandey (Babbal), wherein interestingly, both play the good cop and bad cop respectively (Narad is a politician, Babbal is a sharp shooter). It is clear at this point that the demarcated lines would pit these characters against the Davans. But the seeds of ambition raise the stakes in the drama from within the Davan family too when two candidates emerge for the throne after Bada is arrested for murder – Chhota (Ranvir Shorey) and Chacha Davan (Vineet Kumar).
Another interesting aspect remains the dynamics between Chhota and Chacha. It is similar to the dynamics that Kaleen Bhaiyya shared with his son Munna, wherein Chacha is the vily and conniving one, while Chhota is the impulsive one, relatively speaking. There is a little game of one-upmanship that the drama focuses on, even while straying away from the murder subplot which threatened to engulf the drama. This isn’t a murder mystery – it is a drama depicting the lust for power, wherein every character has a part to play. If this was a cricket world cup, many teams would fight for the throne but the interesting piece of the puzzle would be individual players trying to fit into the team in place of another player too.
Another example that I can quote here is of a Wrestlemania match of WWE, wherein multiple wildcard characters pop-up for the throne, that also includes a money-in-the-bank match. Here, the latter plays an important subplot involving a sum of 25 crores that goes missing after the murder of Davan’s accountant. For Davans, the opposition arrives also in the form of a new DSP in town Murali Majhi (Sushant Singh), who is hell bent in framing the Davan’s for the crime in the vicinity, whilst also utilizing the services of the second son of Davan called Babu (Kranti Prakash Jha), who is a part of the police force. Hence for Babu, the conflict remains to safeguard the interests of his family whilst also carrying out his duty, the latter of which he is arm-twisted into at one point.
Babu also remains a key character given his feelings for Sasha (Kallirroi Tziafeta), a hired stripper at the ‘recreation club’ of the Davans. This, except that it is Chhota who maintains an extramarital affair with Sasha, despite being ‘happily’ married to Imali (Tannishtha Chatterjee). You also have Sukki (Yogendra Vikram Singh), the son of Chacha who secretly beholds an ambition of power. And, there is Kisna (Aakash Dahiya) who wishes to settle with his foreigner girlfriend in Bihar with an ambition to expand their business. It is the kind of a sizzler wherein every character is designed to sizzle while having strong repercussions for their actions in the drama. And if you are patient, then you will find yourself engaged in the proceedings that also touches upon interesting bouts of dark humour along the way. In a scene, after a character dies, his body is disposed in a tandoor (read : oven), even as Chhota ideates the use of butter to char the body (reminded me of Sardar’s Butter Pav Bhaji, but I digress). There are such moments sprinkled in the narrative that will make you laugh (but only if you are patient with it).
One of the criticisms for the drama remains on how overstuffed the events are. It is a recipe of adding every available ingredient in the mix to formulate the world, every as everyone play catch up. The promising subplots are started and abandoned, so much so that they felt like a distraction more than anything else. What that would do is scatter the focus of the viewers, who have to adjust from one track to another, while seemingly having to connect the dots. Perhaps a slightly more focused form of storytelling could have been employed to consistently pique the interests of the viewers. That would have added a little fizz to the proceedings – be it in frequent forms of humour or unexpected twists.
Also, it didn’t help that the OTT platform abruptly ended the show, which would largely give an impression of the show being pointless (when it actually isn’t). Perhaps, this wasn’t the right strategy of release for the show afterall, resulting in a screenplay that has its moments but is cruelly cut-short even without a cliffhanger (although no fault of the makers here, why Amazon MX Player, why???).
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are grounded and wonderfully represent the ‘colourful’ vibe of the heartland of the country. There is a sweetness to the dialect of the characters that adds a layer of authenticity to the drama, even as the lines briefly contribute to the humour of the drama. The music and BGM by Indian Ocean is immaculate, while highlighting the earthiness of the drama efficiently. It is the background score that engages with you while keeping you invested in several scenes that are verbose in nature. The cinematography captures the dusty landscapes of the setting, while creating a sense of authenticity with its depiction. In a way, it does allow the setting to play an important character around which the drama unfolds.
The editing doesn’t quite take into account the multiple lags in the drama, thereby creating certain passages in the proceedings that just add crucial minutes to the overall runtime of the show. Maybe a crisper edit would have warranted an even better impact. Director Raj Amit Kumar does a decent job with the proceedings here but the issue remains on overstuffing the drama in order to mount it on a certain scale. You also need to bear in mind that this is just half the story, and so one mustn’t jump the gun already. But I could sense a trait of the director not being fully in control of the proceedings, particularly when a subplot is introduced but not pursued for an extended passage. That said, the world building and the characterization is pretty promising, just that the exploration of a few additional threads (as opposed to a focused narrative style) is what has impacted the overall nature of the drama. But still the direction shines in glimpses, coming across as decent, overall speaking.
Performances
The performances are excellent by the members of the cast, and this is literally a casting coup of sorts for the casting director Mukesh Chhabra. Here, I must also add that because of the overstuffed nature of the drama, not all actors fully get a chance to bloom here. Ravi Bhushan Bhartiya as Vikram, Diksha Nisha as Sheila, Pawan Singh as Munna Rifle, Devashish Mishra as Lala, Manish Mishra as Sutta, Rakesh Sharma as Tota and Neeraj Singh as Bachha, are wonderful additions here, and each one of them contribute to the colourful nature of the drama. Puja Jha as Soni shines despite a limited screen time, and she makes her presence felt. Govind Namdev as Angad Singh and Resh Lamba as Narad contribute to the distinct flavour of the drama, through their scheming and conniving antics in the most subtle manner possible. Alok Pandey as Babbal is intimidating and chilling, both at the same, and I feel he will play a significant part in the subsequent season of the show.
Sheeba Chadha as Dharavi, Auroshikha Dey as SI Bansi, Sai Tamhankar as Ajji, Tannishtha Chatterjee as Imali, Seema Biswas as Sanka and Preeti Chauhan as Roli are supremely competent actors who make their presence felt, despite the writing never fully allowing their characters to bloom. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Raja Babu is playfully conniving with his character and he explores his shades of grey wonderfully well. Kallirroi Tziafeta as Sasha has a wonderful screen presence and she is superb to witness in a character that is more than what meets the eye. Daniela Londono Rodriguez as Myra is equally good and I am more interested in how her character ultimately shapes up.
Aakash Dahiya as Kisna is superb to witness here, and he explores his early bouts of ambitions in a relatively oblivious setup (for him given that he has returned from USA), expertly so. Ghansham Garg as SI Deen Bihari will manage to tickle your funny bone with the antics of a corrupt cop, who soon finds himself in a pickle while trying to make everyone happy. Saurabh Shukla as Bada is wonderfully understated and he brings subtle bouts of chills to his character. Yogendra Vikram Singh is a serious talent to reckon with (having previously made a mark with his act in Mandala Murders (2025) too), and as Sukki, he is a dynamite – impulsive to the core but with a playful fizz that makes him standout from the crowd.
Sushant Singh as DSP Murli is phenomenal here, using his body language and expressions with a playful finesse to convey the righteousness of his character. Vineet Kumar as Chacha Davan is subtly scheming and conniving, being a perfect opportunist, and conveying the emotions of his character with a sense of sinister coy. And that remained a sign of a veteran who is at the top of his game! Kranti Prakash Jha as Babu Davan wonderfully owns the internal conflict of his character – be it towards his love, or towards his brother, and his understated approach is excellent to witness here. He will surely have a greater part to play in the next season.
Ranvir Shorey has to be one of the most versatile actors today, and he is brilliant to the core as Chhota. A character with no morals but with sky high ambitions, he manages to bring out the sinister trait of his character rather efficiently, while putting forth a performance that is nuanced but also gripping. He is impulsive at one point but calm in another, a dual trait that makes him unpredictable. He is terrific to witness here in a fabulous job done, overall.
Conclusion
Boasting of stupendous performances, the first season of Bindiya Ke Bahubali is a slow burn gangster drama that makes for a decent watch. It is slightly overstuffed and requires patience to sit through, and the idea of the drama working for you would solely depend on how patient you are in trying to immerse yourself in this world. It is also worth noting that this is a sabotage of sorts of an OTT platform relying on the ‘divide by two’ season approach (wherein a single season is divided into two parts), that makes the drama end abruptly (even without a cliffhanger). If nothing, watch it for the brilliant performances! Available on Amazon MX Player.