Based on the novel ‘The Price You Pay’ by Somnath Batabyal, The era in which the show Crime Beat is set, is an interesting case study in itself with respect to the media. The early 2010s marked the start of the transition of the media from the tabloid culture to the more professional studio setup, thereby raising the aspirations of the reporters too. Likewise, here you are introduced to Abhishek (Saqib Saleem) who is a freelancer and just about aspiring to start his career in the media field. He is ambitious, a trait that you get acquainted to very early on wherein you see his manipulate a setting to portray a picture of a man tied upside down while being harassed by the authorities. But incidently, the same incident while getting in trouble with the authorities also lands him an interview at a major tabloid. Elsewhere, you witness the Indian agencies on a wild-goosechase while tracking a potential kidnapper Binny (Rahul Bhat) on foreign soil. The character of Binny is mysterious given the gaze of a criminal that he is presented with. But the more you get to know him, the more you understand that his philosophies are more aligned to the Joker (maybe a condensed version) from The Dark Knight (2008). Interestingly, the two worlds collide when Abhishek develops a keen interest in tracking the movement of Binny, who incidently arrives on Indian shores with a purpose.

There is a clear dilemma in the writing, often bartering the emotional depth of its characters with the break-neck pace. As a result, the goal of quickly shifting from one incident to another without stalling the narrative in any form acts both as a boon and a bane. There is an instant rush that engulfs you even as you witness Abhishek going on an investigative route, with the sole intention of aspiring to feature on the first page of his tabloid. Yet, the emotional quotient that aspires the character is only fleeting – we are told that he wishes to showcase it to his father who hasn’t been in favour of his pursue in the media stream (where have I heard this before?). The idea was to slow things down and allow quieter moments of frustration to highlight this aspect in the drama which unfortunately wasn’t to be. The same applies to his budding intimate equation with a co-worker Maya (Saba Azad) who herself is dealing with the vulnerability of aspiring to work in the investigative zone, but is reduced to Page 3 parties a la Madhvi (Konkona Sen Sharma) from Page 3 (2005). These moments are fleeting but never fully explored or justified.

The core of the drama remains the goosehunt with the agencies being on the lookout for Binny and his gang, who have been on a kidnapping spree. Their intentions remain unclear although their modus operandi is clear to the viewers. Both Archana (Saie Tamhankar) and Imran (Mustafa Burmawala) are known to lure victims sexually (here, you see only Archana participating in it but the same “may” have applied to Imran with regard to a previous kidnapping), in what seemed like a case of fraud and extortion. The characters here remain one-dimensional while never fully exploring their individual dynamics with Binny, or even their origin story that would have formed an emotional connect with these characters. As a result, the portions involving a supposed kidnapping was thrilling in the moment, but never lingered beyond the fixed timeline.

Here I must say that some portions of the commentary on the media does land. In a scene, you see Abhishek’s boss Aamir (Danish Husain) address his team while often contradicting on his own principles and moralities at times. The idea of sensationalism is his way of distinguising his news articles from the others, even while being in denial. And hence, his crucial dynamics with Abhishek remained an interesting plot-point. Likewise, the straying commentary on the authorities and the hunger for power remained one of the interesting talking points of the show. In a scene, you see a local politician SK Rawat (Vipin Sharma) being a little fazed out with his power dynamics, while commanding the encounter of Binny at the hands of DCP Uday (Rajesh Tailang).

One of the biggest downfalls of the drama remained that it didn’t wish to raise its stake with respect to the politics that it was addressing. Given that the show had an investigative setup, I wished that the plot would have had a more ‘unraveling’ of secrets rather than being spread on a platter. It was convenient and cliched with the writing and far too abrupt with the presentation that completely derailed a safe setup at the end. The commentary on the media remained skewed, and so did the political commentary to expose the comspiracy that didn’t exactly come across as shocking in the manner in which it was presented. As a result, even the finale didn’t hit home – neither with its commentary neither the emotional connect in place, and that for me summed up the screenplay that was a missed opportunity here.