PI Meena follows the story of a private investigator Meena, a Tamilian working in Kolkata(a fact that had no bearing on the story) who investigates the death of a young man. And during the course of its investigation, it opens a can of worms including a virus outbreak that threatens to spread like wild fire. The story here had the potential to be an engaging thriller given that it also deals with the discovery of another epidemic, like was the case with the brilliant show Kaala Paani. But what sets the latter in a league of its own was its brilliant writing, wherein one event lead to another backed by some wonderful character arcs. And the same is missing in PI Meena that only threatens to explode but never really sets the arena on fire. The screenplay standing at 8 episodes of roughly 30 odd to 40 odd minutes each is decent, but the stakes in the drama are never heightened, while consistently being understated with its approach. As a result, the convoluted drama never really finds its mojo even while showing some promise with its premise.

The drama opens with the introduction of the protagonist who is shown to be a private investigator working for a firm. Soon, she witnesses a ‘hit and run’ accident which results in the death of an individual. What seemed like an accident starts showing traces of being a murder, something that gets the protagonist interested given her traumatic past featuring her brother and mother. But little does she know that the investigation would open a can of worms. The fundamental mistake that the writers have committed is that they try to set the premise at a slightly quicker rate while considerably slowing the drama later on. As a result, the pacing of the drama was a suspect and moments that ought to have given you a high, just fall flat.

The drama is engrossing but only in parts as it switches between being an investigation on a murder and a larger conspiracy that is transpiring. And this wasn’t a bad concept at all on paper but it needed sharper writing and even better execution to truly allow the audience to invest in the drama. Sadly, that was missing as the drama wasn’t focused and a little scattered. Another low for me was the world building and characterization. Speaking about the former, there was a chance to utilize the atmosphere of a hill station by playing around with the fog to generate a sense of intrigue(something that was done well in Jaane Jaan, although the movie was plain average). But the writers were far too focused on the outbreak of a virus, a plot point that never really took off despite having immense potential. And even the character arcs were almost non-existential of all characters, some of whom played the disappearing act in the middle.

The investigation was bland and unnecessarily convoluted for my liking. The thread was spread too thin and as a result, the guessing game was never really on. After a point, it didn’t matter to me who killed the victim, as the writers had by then shifted focus to the viral outbreak only to get back to this plot point that never really felt exciting post that. Even the twists and turns weren’t great despite the body count increasing wherein the drama never really came back together after showing some promise at the beginning. The grand revelation was laughable and the tension in the drama was absolutely missing. To add to the trauma, the story wasn’t concluded either. Overall, the writing has its moments but seemed like a lost opportunity for most of the runtime.