POPCORN REVIEWSS

Written by Karan Anshuman and Karmanya Ahuja, the first season of Glory has a hook similar to the other Netflix show Kohrra. Another interesting anecdote being that both Glory and Kohrra are set in the north of India – one in Haryana and the other in Punjab, but the setting remains diabolically distinct. You are witness to Haryana that is more on the lines of Kota on Kota Factory, except with a dash of steroids on offer. The red herrings and shaded hues welcome you on the streets that are showcased to be a factory for boxers. It is further reiterated through one of the characters who claims that 60% of Indian Boxers qualified for the Olympics are from Haryana. And yet, the core goal of Raghubir aspiring his sons to fulfill his Olympic dream, remains a distant reality. But ironically, a family tragedy is what has brought his children together.

The early vibe of Raghubir reminded me of Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) from Whiplash (2014), who would stop at nothing in order to achieve his dream. So in a scene after his daughter has been tragically murdered by an unknown entity in the hospital, he still expects people to come in time for the training. In a way, Raghubir is a distant cousin of Major Iqbal’s Father from Dhurandhar 2 (2026; also essayed by Suvinder Vicky) who would repeatedly hurl abuses at his sons for their incompetence. In the same breath, his two sons have different personalities – the limping Dev remains hot-headed and spritely, often a shadow of Munna from Mirzapur with a lot more grit tagged to his persona. And in a sharp contrast, Ravi is the subdued one, often shown to be murmuring words to control his anger. And ironically, the three of them team up to get to the bottom of the mystery – the masked ‘unknown’ men who happened to kill their family member and her boyfriend.

It is interesting on how the writing uses the mechanism of one genre to drive the narrative of the other genre. For instance, the idea of Ravi getting back into action in the ring isn’t necessarily about his erstwhile suppressed aspirations, but a corridor into getting to the bottom of the mystery involving his sister. In the same breath, Dev’s wrath with regards to his past in the ring featuring his father, circles back to the present wherein he gets a chance to reconcile with him. In that sense, the family dynamics remains an important flame in the narrative, even as the protagonists traverse through the list of suspects in episodes filled with blood and gore.

The characters of this world add a spike to the narrative with their antics – a sincere cop leashed by the system trying to solve the case, his married femme fatale who is attracted to Ravi, a psychotic Don who chooses to flip a digital coin to decide the fate of his victim, a journalist who aides and eventually falls for Dev, a Sarpanch who is madly obsessed with his buffalo (ironically given the name from a minority community even while casteism prevails around it; hilarious😂), Raghubir’s nemesis who is competing with him for his candidate’s Olympic slot, Ravi’s competitor in the ring seething with a streak of revenge, another one awaiting his turn to get even after switching loyalties, and a long list of suspects (and their bodies) that pave a path for the protagonists.

There is a gritty undertone laced with subtle bouts of humour that often keeps you invested in the drama. The one missing link remained the politics of the land that felt diluted and sanitized, even while overlooking the obvious issues related to the caste and female infanticide. The latter is only briefly touched upon, when a character remarks on how she was sold from a neighbouring state by her uncle – a clear subtext of the issue in question, an argument that also could be extended to the lack of female boxers in the academy (as compared to their male counterparts).

There are definite twists and turns with an eye on cohesiveness in the narrative, that doesn’t allow the tonal inconsistencies with respect to the two contrasting genres to kick in (for most parts of the runtime). So even when the two brothers opt for different ambitions – one wishing to go after the murder trail, and the other wishing to fulfill his Olympic ambitions – the tone is evened out due to the cohesive inference that links the characters together. So Ravi isn’t as disconnected from the murder trail, and Dev isn’t too far away from the ring of action – often tied together by emotions.

The slight issue for me remained the revelation in the third act, one that felt simplistic and backed by a mere exposition dump – as opposed to a character stumbling on the truth. And in the same breath, the mystery itself is predictable – a link that can easily be traced back to the earlier episodes. As a result, the impact never spiked at any point. Another drawback remained the creative decision to intercut two parallel storylines – one inside the ring, and the other outside it. That specific sequence didn’t exactly work, while further widening the contrast between the events.

And even though the final revelation was once again spoon-fed to the viewers, I enjoyed the twisty undertones tagged to the same, which despite being predictable felt thrilling nevertheless. And the setup for the next season was a brilliant cliffhanger, thereby summing up the screenplay that is pretty well written.