- Date of Release: 21 August 2026
- Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Amazon MX Player
Clean Up Company (Season 1)
Introduction
The new Hindi show Clean Up Company felt like a rewarding and frustrating watch for me, in equal measures. It was like ordinary a fancy, new dish only to get a generic, tried and tested dish at a restaurant. This is because it had such an interesting premise in hand – a journey wherein sidekicks are the main characters, a motley group of young boys who are caught in the cross fire of two rival gangs and a flair of politics, while having to carry out just one job of ‘cleaning up’ and disposing dead bodies. In a parallel world, this could have been an alternate version of Akash, Sam and Sid from Dil Chahta Hai (2001), if they weren’t born in a high-suburban metro city but instead in a small town in UP or Bihar. Or perhaps, an alternate nod and a companion piece to the trio in Delhi Belly (2011), except that the only sh*t show here would remain the setting. But the idea to depart from these interesting tit-bits, and instead focus on the gangster and politician feud in the show converted this promising premise into a generic small town gangster drama on the lines of Mirzapur (2021) or even the recently released Bindiya Ke Bahubali (2025), both of which formulate the landscape of the genre that is fast becoming stale in the OTT space.
Story & Screenplay
Written by Rohan Ghose, Konarak Mukherjee, and Reetarshi Dutta, the first season of Clean Up Company begins on an interesting note with regards to its premise. The town is a reimagined version of Mirzapur called Saribganj that is home to warring gangsters Sultan (Vijay Srivastava) and Dharam (Shaji Chaudhary) , under the watchful eyes of a gangster-turned-politician Mezda (Jisshu Sengupta) who in-turn is operates under the shadow of a kingpin named Bonda (Ravi Kishan), the brother of Mezda who was wronged by him and now has suddenly disappeared. There is a new IPS officer in town called SP Indranath (Saswata Chatterjee) who aspires to make Saribganj crime-free. There is a henceman called Abbas (Resh Lamba) who holds aspirations of ruling the city, and a mysterious girl called Laila (Tuhina Das) who wishes to seek vengeance against Mezda. It might be too much to process, but do keep up with me!
At the heart of this Game of Thrones-esque setup remain the three stooges – Goldie (Ajitesh Gupta), Raju (Vishal Jethwa), and Swapan (Amey Wagh) who are reflective of a subtle political and social subtext of unemployment that is lacing the country at the moment. Their job remains simple – to clean and dispose off dead bodies from either side of the warring gangs in exchange for a sum of money.
And ironically, the novelty of the premise rests on the shoulders of these characters too – given how most shows don’t emphasize on characters with these side gigs. But the writing almost isn’t sure of this novelty, double guessing itself to shift its focus on a more generic dynamic of gangsters, politicians and betrayals, while wishing to focus on blood, gore and masculinity. It is a very generic-coded narrative that loses out on its exciting premise, while willing to follow the tried and tested tropes of the genre.
There are some pivotal moments that held my attention. Be it the idea of the escape of the three protagonists being foiled following the murder of their fourth friend as a warning sign. Or a sequence involving Laila who tactfully tries to bump off Mezda while disguising herself as a bar dancer (a nice little gender-flip to the Dhurandhar template). Or even a resounding sequence involving the character of Abbas open firing at a bar, and eventually converting it into a graveyard. The elements of intrigue are prevalent, only oscillating between bouts of distraction given how the rest of the drama seemed to be coated with the same paint of genericity.
One issue that I had with the narrative outside the genericity of the writing, remained its scattered tone. The inconsistent tone definitely played its part in me having to switch off from the proceedings every now and then – simply given how certain sequences stick out like a sore thumb. Be it a character trying to make out with his girlfriend in a morgue that just didn’t land with its comic timing, or an entire subplot involving a bunch of characters that look to get back at Mezda by posing as the character of Bonda who is still alive, but is unhappy with the way the town is being treated and controlled. The final show-off is an off-shoot of this, except that it is mounted on the back of a death of an important character that is almost forgotten in the wake of black comedy.
These shortcomings do mask some of the interesting bits in the show. Be it a resounding train sequence at the end involving Laila, or the searing face-off followed by the return of an ol’ ghost that had me momentarily intrigued. Sadly outside the pivotal points in the narrative, the stakes remain middling – almost disguising this narrative as a second screen drama. Some bouts are interesting but the consistency is missing, a trait that can be equated with its screenplay that loses its ingenuity outside the gimmick of its premise.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues follow a similar trope of genericity, given how the lines itself don’t have an identity of their own (remember every dialogue of the first season of Mirzapur?). The punch is missing, even the humour feels like a hit and a miss, lacking the flair to keep one invested through and through. The BGM remains middling, not completely soaring and elevating the impact of any scene.
The cinematography scores well with the display of gore, never shying away from tapping into the violent tropes in the narrative. The close-ups of characters having finished the ‘job’ was a welcome addition to the fabric of the show. I even liked that one action sequence on the train towards the end, that was not only well choreographed but also well shot (it felt like a single shot). My only complaint remained in the overall fabric of the show, mostly in terms of treating its location as a character – something that felt like a derivative of a few other gangster shows in terms of its production design.
The editing pattern needed to be crisper, given how it doesn’t always hold the narrative well. There are passages of lag that christen the narrative, something that needed to be ironed out at the editing table. Director Rohan Ghose has a mixed outing here. To be fair, he does score well with a handful of sequences (and twists) that bring back your attention from the realms of distraction. But his biggest shortcoming lies in not fully trusting the novelty of his show’s premise, instead venturing on a frequently tapped road that in-turn lacks an identity of its own. The world building feels tried and tested, the characters lack the soul, something that makes this drama all but too familiar. So while a handful of moments standout, the filmmaking itself felt like a hit and a miss.
Performances
The performances are pretty good by the members of the cast. Anindita Raychaudhury as Saria and Saoli Chattopadhyay as Mala have their moments to shine. Tushar Rungta as Suresh remains sincere in hia short stay onscreen, as does Nirmal Chaudhary as Tuban who is earnest despite having a pretty one-dimensional character to essay. Siddhi Potdar as Manisha has a good screen presence, and she manages to do a commendable job here – despite the writing misplacing the humour quotient with regards to her character. Vikas Srivastava as Nurul and Vijay Srivastava as Sultan are decent, but both of them needed a slightly longer screentime to fully come across as intimidating figures. Rajeev Pandey as Rafikul brings about the creepy undertones to his character with ease, thereby managing to impress.
Salim Husen Mulla as Halua is a character riddled with earnestness, and he brings about the naivety to his persona, quite ably. Vikram Bham as Sariful has his moments to shine, and he delivers an impress act. Shaji Chaudhary as Dharam has an intimidating persona, and he definitely felt convincing in the part of a gangster. Resh Lamba as Abbas brings a streak of eccentricity to his character that separated him from the crowd, even as he delivered a ruthless performance with a lot of brilliance. Saswata Chatterjee as SP Indranath is nicely restrained, although the humour quoted in his character felt woefully out of place (there was no real scope for humour here, a trait that may have been incorporated to make the world ‘colourful’).
Ravi Kishan as Bonda has a brief presence here, but he absolutely owns the stage whilst making a solid impact despite a limited screen time. Tuhina Das as Laila is outstanding with her expressions that oscillate between being fiery and dead pan – a trait that would keep you guessing with regards to the motives of her character. She nicely taps into the unpredictability of her character, even briefly excelling in a solid combat sequence. She was a delight to witness here. Jisshu Sengupta as Mezda is decent, but the criticism about genericity that I had about the show also would extend to his performance. His performance (although conniving in moments) felt just too generic to have an identity of its own that is memorable in any way.
Amey Wagh as Swapan and Vishal Jethwa as Raju are strong performers, and they are fairly convincing here, although their characters felt slightly one-dimensional without posing a personality of their own. Having said that, I really can’t fault their performances here, wherein they did everything within reach to makes end meet. But it is Ajitesh Gupta as Goldie that stands out with his measured performance that ably taps into subtle yet goofy bouts of humour that automatically gives me a definite personality. He even scores with his expressions, allowing the emotions around his character to land – something that added weightage to his performance. He was a joy to witness here.
Conclusion
Despite featuring fairly competent performances and an undeniably novel premise, the first season of Clean Up Company squanders its unique potential by devolving into a generic political-gangster drama. While the series flashes occasional brilliance and holds a few genuinely intriguing moments up its sleeve, its derivative narrative structure struggles to maintain a consistent grip, frequently causing my attention to drift and fracture. This uneven execution ultimately made it a middle-of-the-road, hit-or-miss watch for me – one that isn’t as memorable as it desires to be. Available on Amazon MX Player.