The little issue that I had with The Secret Of The Shiledars is with the characterization. Based on the novel Pratipashchandra, I really wish its adaptation on celluloid had allowed me to spend a little more time with the character of Ravi (Rajeev Khandelwal) outside the main plot. This could have included his fascination for historic artifacts too (remember, he was still young when his parents had met with an accident), wherein a little more time could have been spent on fleshing out his character. That said, the template of The Secret Of The Shiledars is similar to that of Indiana Jones, wherein the writing that is self aware of the same, also acknowledges it. In its skeleton, it is about the protagonist and his well-wishers having to go from point A to point B in search of a treasure, with multiple obstacles along the way, both in terms of the clues interspersed, and the looming threat with respect to certain individuals. And to the writer’s credit, the drama scores really well with its core.

One thing that the writing gets right is the multiple cultural references with respect to the adventure that is in store for the protagonist and his clan. The starting point of the drama stemming its origins from the throne of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to providing information about the Shiledars, or the guardians of the treasure, the writing truly creates the right aura in the drama, just to create ambiguity and intrigue in the minds of the viewers. What it also does is lay the lines of morality with respect to the motives of the characters. For instance, you do know the evil motivations of the character of Ramachandran (Kannan Arunachalam) who claims to be the rightful heir of the treasure. Or even the homely vibe of Dr. Dixit (Dilip Prabhawalkar) and Prashik (Nandu Madhav) who are key catalysts in helping Ravi and his clan, even as the writers briefly keep a couple of characters and their motives under wraps.

The proceedings are interesting given how all the key locations in the drama play their part. This has remained one of they key ingredients for an adventure drama, and it was heartening to see the kind of respect etched with with respect to every location, that itself played an important character in this maze. The little issue that I had was with the fillers in the drama – for instance, the convenient plot points involving the nemesis of the clan randomly dropping on the exact same location during a search op (I understand the information being passed on, but landing on the exact location was a bit of a far-fetched thought), or the ease with which the codes are deciphered, something that was particularly true in the first half of the drama. Even the information with respect to the treasure wasn’t actually ‘unravelled’, but rather presented, something that could have otherwise added a layer of mystery with respect to the characters. But these are still minor flaws, in an otherwise thrilling adventure drama that did tackle some underlying concepts of unity really well.

I was willing to let go of a few flaws with respect to the convenience in the writing, simply because these would ideally classify in the regular trappings of the genre. There was a lot of research that may have gone behind the scenes to link the fictional treasure hunt to actual moments in the history, and that was wonderfully reflective on the screen for which the crew must be applauded. The cultural insights truly won me over by allowing me space to suspend my belief, and completely invest in the journey of the protagonist, filled with obstacles. Hence even the twists and turns in the drama that I could see coming from a mile, didn’t bother me because those remained mere plot-points that were outweighed by the soul of the drama which was the adventure laced with cultural references. The ending also was a satisfying one despite the predictability of the writing. The screenplay here might be marginally convenient but it still accounts for a solid watch.