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Manvat Murders

By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
3 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

Based on true events, the new Hindi show Manvat Murders joins a bandwagon of serial killer dramas that often focus on two ingredients – the style and the substance that help in contributing towards the wellbeing of a show. But here, the tone is mellow both in style and substance that acts as a boon and a bane in many ways. Boon because it allows the setting to be grounded with a leisurely sleepy energy that is immensely refreshing and adds to the intrigue of the drama. Bane because the whodunnit and the whydunnit are hinted at early on in the show that often focuses just on the police procedural that eventually makes the drama one-dimensional. Make no mistake, the show here is immensely watchable if the focus remains solely on the police procedural. But given that the case here had so much to offer in terms of occultism and the horrors associated with it, this was an opportunity to also give emphasis on the killings with a little more buildup as a parallel plot point. Picture this – the use of monochrome would cut the screens even as there is a buildup of tension that escalates slowly but steadily at the start of every episode, with the focus being directed to the victim who is oblivious of its fate. To the show’s credit, it does showcase the same but more as an after-thought given how quickly the killings wrap up, never quite imbibing the atmospherics in play. This was an important element given that it could have acted as a precursor to the whydunnit in the show which did make a splash at the end but never in a crescendo that the makers would have ideally liked.

Story & Screenplay

The premise of Manvat Murders is simple – an outsider cop is tasked with the investigation behind the string of grizzly murders that take place in the village of Manvat, thus triggering a solid police investigation that is underway. The year is 1973 and the leisurely paced life of the dangerous village kind of reflect of the time. The story is essentially going from point A to point B via a few distractions and curveballs that are added to keep the viewers guessing. And while the story is good, it ought to have been better in terms of the shock factor, majorly the whydunnit that needed to be a thread from the start to the end. That said, the police procedural is immensely gripping even as the protagonist lays out strategies with respect to every suspect in the fray that makes the drama watchable over its screenplay of 8 episodes standing at a runtime of 30 odd to 50 odd minutes each. My only gripe was that you are always a step ahead of the investigation wherein you do know the needle of suspicion pointing towards a particular set of characters.

One minor issue that the drama suffers from is the characterization of the characters. While some of the supporting characters are slightly one-dimensional, the principal characters needed a little more bite too. For instance, the protagonist Ramakant is shown to be a righteous man who is always grounded and has an aura of empathy around him that makes even the most dangerous criminals disarm in front of him during the interrogation sequences. This for me was a slightly bland representation given the predictability of the character. Sure it may have been a real-life character but on the show, perhaps a layer of greed could have added wonders to the character, and also the story. What this would have done is also allow the character to have a bit of an arc as opposed to just be on repeat mode with respect to his characteristics. And in a bid to conceal the whodunnit element, some of the character traits of characters is also diluted, and understandably so. But what that ensures is that you rarely get to know the characters and indulge in the guessing game.

The area where the drama scores is in the police procedural that saves the drama from the blemishes. In this space, you are well acquainted with the characters of the police personnel even as they get together in some wonderful synergy to crack the case. In a sharp contrast, the characteristics of the protagonist works best here even as he marshals his troops for the betterment of the case. The random turn of events do contribute to some interesting twists and turns along the way even with respect to a few characters that manages to hold your attention. The events are gripping during this period with the only distractions being that of the killings ironically, that seem to be integrated in the structure almost as an after-effect. If there was a structure even to the killings (like the one that I had mentioned in the introduction), the impact would have been higher.

There are a few lags along the way that don’t really contribute to the overall drama significantly, while basically going around in circles and adding crucial minutes to the overall runtime. I wished the grand revelation was done sooner (yes, oddly sooner) which would have allowed the focus to be on the occultism part of the drama. This potentially was the core which along with the issues of the caste that it briefly dwelt on, it could have easily branched out into something more chilling. That said, the staging of the revelation and the sequence of events are indeed good and the writers do well to tie up the drama well at the end. Overall, the screenplay is a bit of a mixed bag, and with a few tweaks, the impact of the drama could have reached a crescendo.

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues did get the dialect factor on point that added to the authenticity of the drama with respect to its setting. But the grounded nature of the lines needed a little more spark at a few junctures to leave a lasting impression. The BGM is decent and makes a good case for itself particularly during the cliffhangers that the various episodes leave you with. The cinematography comprises of frames that capture the barren nature of the land pretty well which along with a dusty setting, does contribute well to the ambience of the drama. The editing is decent but ought to have been crisper with regard to the lags in the screenplay that needed to be ironed out. A few transition shots could have been better edited as well even as the integration of killings felt a little patchy. Director Ashish Bende does a good job here in definitely trying to build an ambience that is intriguing here. While the direction isn’t remarkable as his previous outing with Aatmapamphlet, he does manage to hold a grip with the police procedurals underway that makes for a decently engaging watch. Yes, the characterization and some parts of the staging could have been better, but he definitely manages to show spark in traces here.

Performances

The performances are pretty grounded by the ensemble cast. Pravin Dalimbkar as Shankar, Sagar Yadav and Purnanand Wandhekar as Nawathe are wonderful to witness. Payal Jadhav as Jahnavi is wonderfully understated and manages to leave a lasting impression here. Umesh Jagtap and Shardul Saraf as Shukla have contrasting character traits, and although a touch underwritten (particularly the former), both are impressive with their respective acts. Mayur Khandge as Vakatkar has a supreme screen presence and a righteous aura around him that makes him standout from the crowd while delivering a solid performance. Makrand Anaspure as Uttamrao is seemingly conniving and explores the grey shades of his character rather well. Ashok Prabhakar as Tukya does showcase an interesting spark that does elevate the narrative to an extent.

Sonali Kulkarni as Rukmini is back to being at her absolute best after Love, Sitara. She has a towering persona and a sinister aura that commands your attention in a supremely towering act that is brilliant in every aspect. Saie Tamhankar in sharp contrast is excellent with the way she underplays her character, allowing her expressive eyes and body language to do the talking. She is incredibly subdued and does a superb job here. Ashutosh Gowariker as Ramakant is sincere but slightly under par with his performance. Yes, he is grounded with a righteous aura around him but he needed to be a little more authoritative with his demeanor that would have further created an impact with his performance. He was good but could have been better.

Conclusion

Manvat Murders is a decently gripping police procedural drama with grounded performances that makes for a decent watch. Available on SonyLiv.

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