Garmi follows the story of a young man caught in the crossfire of college politics wherein the equations between characters keep changing as per their interests. What happens next? The story here isn’t novel and we have previously seen content on a similar subject. But this is the brilliance of the filmmaker who happens to weave a convoluted and textured world with student politics as the backdrop that really makes things interesting. The screenplay standing at 9 episodes of 40 odd minutes each does make for a supremely compelling watch. But this is one series that I did find almost impossible to binge watch in a single go! It demands your undivided attention to understand the nuances of the politics and the character motives wherein the makers do not opt for any bit of spoon feeding to the viewers.

The drama does open with the introduction of the protagonist, a fiery young man, almost an idealist who likes to voice his opinion, at times through his actions. In a parallel plot-point, you are introduced to the two student leaders of a university which is termed as the ‘Research & Development Center’ for Indian politics. The hierarchy of politics is brilliantly represented through this university. The premise begins with the murder of a road contractor that sets the ball rolling for the politics to kick in with all the hidden motives of multiple characters coming into play. And the two worlds merge when the protagonist is thrown into this mix of student politics with two warring parties pitted against one another.

The proceedings are eventful and engrossing but the screenplay is designed to be a much more immersive in its nature. It is a slow burn and deeply rooted to the area where it is set in. There are so many characters with multiple subplots unfolding at the same time that the drama requires a good amount of patience and application to truly understand and come to terms with the politics of the land. As one of the characters does say, politics is also a science and science of the party needs to be studied and understood. This does hold true for the drama which threatens to explode at several places in its run time. Another aspect that I did like was that the writers were not scared of raising the stakes in the drama. This does include some key characters being bumped off or sidelined to fuel the narrative ahead which was quite impressive. Also, the drama did briefly touch upon the prevalent caste system in our society.

The drama does comprise of some interesting twists and turns that do make for a compelling viewing. One minor drawback can be that some of the plot points did seem to be rushed. For instance, the kidnapping of the protagonist’s sisters did seem simplistic. But the emphasis may very well have been on putting things to perspective for season 2. As they say, politics is an ongoing journey without a destination. And here, the characters are so well etched out with clear motives that it could lead to innumerous permutations and combinations especially when season 1 did end on a cliffhanger with open plot points. The screenplay overall is extremely well written but niche in its treatment that ends up being a convoluted yet textured and flavourful drama which is satisfying to the core!