The new nine-part internet collection Tandav wears its politics on its many sleeves, the motion divvied up in a few parallel strands. There’s the ‘strong’ social gathering which has been in energy for ‘two terms’, with its ruling satraps, uber formidable leaders eyeing the ‘kursi’, and trustworthy henchmen (and girls) who know that actual energy vests in those that keep behind the throne, as a result of they’ll see the enemy most clearly.
And there’s the coed politics, enjoying out in a college, which appears to be like suspiciously like Jawaharlal Nehru University, known as right here, nudge, wink, Vivekanand National Univerity, with its blocs of ‘left’ and ‘right’, slogans of ‘azaadi’, and charismatic leaders being bunged into jail with none recourse.
Sounds acquainted? Of course. That is the entire level of this collection, created and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. You don’t should be a media hound to twig on to the sly digs which can be strewn by means of the present. Strong events which swing proper, ‘left’ politics in vilified crimson brick varsities with controversial statues, and the potential problem of the ‘yuva varg’: all these ‘real-life’ parts come up in ‘Tandav’.
But that’s precisely the rub. The hassle with cobbling plotlines from headlines that it could possibly slide into seen-it-been-here territory. Tandav’s insistence on clinging to formulaic telling, with its staccato chopping backwards and forwards from the ‘satta ke galiyaare’ to the ‘chahal pahal’ of the coed arcades, lets down its characters, and dilutes its affect.
It begins effectively, giving us a refreshing father-son equation. When we first stumble upon Devki Nandan Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), he’s taking a look at Samar Pratap (Saif Ali Khan) as solely a died-in-the-wool ‘neta’ can: the latter could also be his ‘beta’, however Samar can also be Devki’s strongest rival. Through that single look, we all know that these two could also be united by blood, however are divided by their ambitions. And so when blood is spilled, we’re not stunned. The act launches the collection into predictable arcs, the place we are able to see what’s coming from miles off.
This a terrific, different ensemble: Dimple Kapadia because the power-hungry Anuradha Kishore, Kumud Mishra as senior social gathering chief Gopal Das, all the time the bridesmaid, by no means the bride, Sunil Grover as Gurpal, Samar’s ruthless yesman, Gauhar Khan as Maithili, the canny lady behind Anuradha, Anup Soni as Kailash, the decrease caste chief who is aware of the worth of holding on to anger. And on the opposite facet, Zeeshan Ayyub as dynamic scholar chief Shiva Shekhar, Kritika Kamra as his advanced compatriot Sana, Sandhya Mridul as a feisty professor, Dino Morea as a two-faced bridge between the 2 sides.
Given this bunch, Tandav ought to have been a lot smarter, and far more attention-grabbing. What floats up high is the deep mistrust between members of the family of politicians, as does the curse of ambition– to reside with no peace, all the time nervous about somebody stabbing you within the again. Saif Ali Khan has moments, however comes off too Bollywood-familiar, as does Kapadia, clad in essentially the most mouth-watering saris: each are able to a lot extra. Those who rise above the pedestrian writing are Grover (his Gurpal is shiver-inducing), Gauhar Khan and Sandhya Mridul, and Tigmanshu Dhulia, who infuses his half with actual brio, and is one of the best a part of the present.
Whatever punch there may be comes from the ‘netas’ and their machinations. The portrayal of the scholars, their in-fighting-speeches-campaigns, by no means actually raise off the display; neither does, much more surprisingly, Zeeshan Ayyub, normally so good. Disappointing that this goes the best way it does. The approach it ends, although, is clearly not the tip. Can the second season be sharper, an precise ‘tandav’?
