Dustbin reviewed Zindabaad
The series focuses on Vikram’s character. He is drunkard, who gets irritated at the drop of a hat. Near his home, is a school and every time the children make some noise, Vikram gets irritated. His irritation level is so much that all he wants is the school to get shut down. He even goes to the Education Minister to get the school shut. But he is turned down by the minister. As his irritation for the children increases, one day a mishap happens. The school children are killed in a bomb blast and this devastates Vikram. Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Sayed takes responsibility for the blast and Vikram vows to take revenge for the blast. He phones in a Pakistani show, where Hafiz is a guest and threatens to take revenge for the blast. RAW tracks down Vikram to know who threatened Hafiz on TV. Sanaya Irani works for RAW and visits Vikram at his place. This brings the revelation that Vikram used to work with RAW 15 years ago. Sanaya is disappointed with how Vikram is keeping up with life, and suggests that he doesn’t do anything about the blast. But Vikram gets hold of the person who conducted the blasts and kills him for information.
The concept of the show is interesting. Getting RAW involved in any series definitely raises expectations from the series. Sanaya makes for a good digital debut as a RAW agent. She manages to keep the audience’s attention intact, more than any other cast member. Vikram Bhatt impresses with his turn as the Epic Hero. Sanaya Irani is really good as Sara Sayed, as she goes about her role of a no-nonsense RAW agent with effortless ease. Sana Khan as the ISI agent Benazir looks hot and is impressive in her acting skills. Aniruddh Dave, Pankaj Dheer, Manish Khanna give the needed impetus to the story with their mature portrayals. Special mention to Meherzan Mazda, for giving an awesome performance in the cameo that has been offered to him. The makers could have taken a better child actor to play the part of Santosh, as this character makes an appearance several times in the show.
On the whole, the show is quite watchable, and manages to capture our attention. It is gripping in parts – not the hold-your-breath kind of edge-of-the-seat gripping, but gripping, nevertheless. Still,I expected better. Given the vast body of work behind Vikram Bhatt, it’s not like he’s a novice in the spy thriller genre. He’s the writer of the story, while Sidhant Sachdev takes on the mantle of director. Sidhant’s vision and execution are on spot. Srivinay Salian has written the dialogues, which, to be honest, are really good, showing glimmers of brilliance in between.
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The web series tells the story of a shy girl who is good at heart by ends up in sticky situations. Neetu Bisht is a small-town Bengali girl who lives in Mumbai with her boyfriend but is often ridiculed for being a small townie. She is constantly walked over by everyone in her life. After she realizes that her boyfriend isn’t faithful to her, she, after a lot of convincing, leaves him and tries to figure out her life that was wrapped around him. Her major concern is that her parents will want her to get her married. She is tired of being let down by everyone and tries to turn her life around with the help of her work friend Soham. Soham is insensitive and mean but always has her best interest at heart.
Nidhi is her natural best here and she is ably supported by a very talented supporting cast. The direction is similar to all the other TVF series, which is definitely a compliment. I particularly loved how the lead enters some arguments assuming stereotypes only to have them shattered and turned on her. It was a nice touch.
The script is well-written and highlights social issues subtly in small places. The actors have done a commendable job. But Bisht, Please! doesn’t seem as effortlessly funny as TVF Tripling, or as endearing as TVF’s popular web series Permanent Roommates, but it slyly weaves in topical quips and manages to establish Neetu’s naivete without making her seem entirely spineless. Neetu’s journey towards self-empowerment is likely to make for interesting viewing, provided Bisht, Please! resists the temptation to give her a drastic and simplistic makeover. Bisht, Please! is a good one time watch.
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'Yo Ke Hua Bro' promises to tickle your funny bone with the tales of two ‘bros’ — the dumb and dumber Mahender (Gaurav Pandey) and Piyush (Aparshakti Khuranna). The two don’t manage to get anything right, be it clearing their graduation, entrance exams, finding a girlfriend or even getting a date. While most people land in trouble in their quest for love, these boys manage to get stuck in a kaand! Mahendra and Piyush want only two things from their lives right now - a government job and hot girls to fool around with. While the former is a distant dream for them, two girls, Suman (Shamita) and Ragini (Ridhima) enter their lives, only to turn it upside down.
While they try to woo the two girls, the sister duo has a completely different plan for them which lands them in jail. The boys narrate to the inspector how the two girls set them up, made embarrassing videos of the two and demanded a ransom of 1.5 crores which they were required to steal from their own homes. All this while, Inspector Bhagwandas (Sumeet) lends them a ear and pretends to sort things for them. But the story presents another twist yet again.
The pace of the series is a little slow, and that makes us want to fast forward a few parts. Had it not been draggy, binge watching it would have been much more fun. There are instances where things have gone totally over the top, like all those abuses that Ragini and Suman hurl; they could have kept it a little toned down. And, while the climax will have everyone in total surprise, it is also something that might turn out to be a major turn off for many.
Gaurav as Mahendar and Aparshakti as Piyush are an absolute visual treat to watch. Given the fact that the series is set in Haryana, their dialects are totally on point, and they are the showstoppers of the entire series. Ridhima Pandit as Ragini and Shamita Shetty as Suman are a wave of fresh air to the series and are seen in an avatar that they've not taken to ever before. Seeing them as the bad girls of the series comes across as a good watch indeed. And last, but not the least, Sumeet as Inspector Bhagwandas is yet another takeaway from the series. Though short, this is a role which will be one thing that we definitely will carry in our hearts.
Despite all the good and the not so good, the series as a whole is a fun watch and is worth spending all the time on because of all the humour that is has. Apart from all of that, the series also has this feel to itself which we haven't seen on the digital platform before.
All in all, it is a one time watch and is worthy of some praise!
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Dustbin reviewed Zeroes
'Zeroes' is the story of three losers in life, Steve, Lucky and Brijesh, who revel in their nothingness. Steve, aka Satyanand Tripathi, is a fanatical fan of Steve Jobs. He walks, talks, dresses like Jobs, and munches apples all the time! Shivankit Singh Parihar gets into the character of Steve with aplomb. In one hilarious scene, at the local chaiwala’s tapri, he even dips an apple wedge into his tea and bites into it, instead of a biscuit like the rest of us. The other two zeroes are Lucky, played by Abhinav Anand, and Brijesh Patel, your stereotypical Gujju spoilt brat living it up, courtesy his rich Pappa (that’s how Gujjus say Papa, for the uninitiated). Badri Chavan does the honors of playing Brijesh. Abhinav is outrageous in the role of an out-of-work kleptomaniac, while Badri’s perpetually surly look is enough to make us break out into laughter. The story revolves around the three friends who are more worried about their positions in the start-up rather than the product for the deal. They hire a sales manager, Pammi. The series is packed with punches and witty humor. The comic timing of each actor is amazing. The punches in the script will leave the viewers laughing for hours. The role played by Shivankit Singh as a hardcore Steve Jobs fan is bang on. The sales manager’s role is also hilarious.
But all this you got it as a light-hearted, satire -laden parody of the real thing; and it has us rolling on the floor with the hilarity of it all. A Dhanush doppelganger has us in splits with his antics. In fact that entire segment, featuring him and a Laurel and Hardy duo, is one of the best segments of the series, in my opinion.
Zeroes are the perfect series for anyone who wishes to have a good laugh with their friends.
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'The Aam Admi Family's plays on with the typical Indian psyche and human sentiments by placing a typical Indian family at the forefront with uniquely similar situations. The most beautiful as well as the ugliest feature of the storyline is that is it’s not based on one certain aspect/event. There is no certain central theme, the entire show is situational. You don’t wait for the culmination of an event. It goes on. In the web series, theirs is a family that will remind you of yours! Mr. Sharma (Brijendra Kala) is every middle-class papa ever, Madhu (Lubna Salim) is the cute mom who runs the household like a pro, Bobby (Chandan Anand) is the naughty son and Sonu (Gunjan Malhotra), their daughter is the sweetheart of the family! But this Aam family is incomplete without Daadi (Kamlesh Gill) who is the notorious kid of the house. Depicting the classic Indian values served with a side of humor, the show revives some of our favorite characters through this 5-member family story.
Season One is gone and even with the new season, the viewers have no idea as to what happened to the Sharma family after the father went to Shimla. You shall see Bobby’s craziness, Sonu’s new experience with love and marriage and Dadi’s one liners. The show is a nice distracted image of the sugar-coated reality of an Indian family. One likes to believe that there are still families like this in this cynical world. The show, aptly, captures the daily life of a middle class common man. The pace remains constant with no big flights, and even though, this might not work for a specific class of audience, but this is what exactly works for the show.
It’s not something we haven’t seen earlier, it’s a typical depiction of any Indian Family, but it’s the situations that the family members get in that make Aam Aadmi Family worth the watch. Whether it’s a new TV or the decision to wear jeans, the show talks about everything we must have seen or gone through by ourselves.
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Abir Basu (Shantanu Maheshwari) is an unemotional and nonchalant boy born in a family of doctors. His father (Bijay Anand), also the best surgeon in town, wants him to be a doctor while he aspires to be a musician. Nibedita (Nityami Shirke) is Abir’s childhood friend but also his biggest competition and his father’s favourite. To remove his competition, Abir plays his tricks and tries to bog down ‘keetabi keeda’ Nibedita by setting her up with college dropout Akash. Meanwhile, he finds a way of getting better grades by giving sexual favours to his teacher played by Shruti Bapna.
Amidst all this, director Abhijit Das delves into the chaotic student life which is messed up because of upcoming mock tests and final examinations and not due to some ‘intra-collge sports competition’. We get to see a variety of students, from bookworms, overachievers, daydreamers to party animals. Das manages to capture the drama of campus life beyond its wild parties, rich vs poor fights and love triangles.
In terms of acting, Shantanu Maheshwari manages to pull off his chocolate boy role and Nityami Shirke is also good as a coy, intelligent and anxious college-goer. Shruti Bapna, as always, impresses with her performance and Bijay Anand once again aces his role of an over achieving father.
The series is hard-hitting dose of nostalgia for all the college-goers and more for the ones who have lived the hostel life. All the jugaads Abir and his friends come up with makes you laugh out loud at the absurdity yet relatability of it all. And that’s the crux and the redeemable factor of Medically Yourrs, it’s relatable and real to a whole new level, no pretense or fantasies. Medically Yourrs is a fresh breath of air, a fun take on MBBS that is entertaining and enlightening. Worth a watch.
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Dustbin reviewed Breathe
Danny Mascarenhas (Madhavan) is a football coach in Mumbai, A widower, he is facing another impending tragedy: his son’s possible demise to cystic fibrosis, a critical pulmonary condition that can only be corrected with an urgent lung transplant. The list of recipients is long, and Josh, Danny’s son, does not have the time. So, Danny comes up with the diabolic plan to kill those who have signed up as donors to move Josh up the list. Amazon Prime Video has released eight episodes of the series and most of these are devoted to Danny figuring out ingenious methods to kill his targets without arousing suspicion. The show has a tall premise, one that becomes especially untenable given Danny’s other character traits. He is a much-admired football coach, having earned the respect of generations of aspirants and their parents. He is a devout Catholic who offers flowers at his wife’s grave regularly. To have him turn into an insensate murderer, even to save his son’s life, takes some getting used to.
At the other end is inspector Kabir Sawant (Sadh), battling his own demons. He has lost his little daughter to a gunshot wound (the gun was his) and his wife has swiftly moved on to a new life. He drowns his days in drink but retains the keenness of perception that will help him put together the pieces of the puzzle orchestrated by Danny’s actions.
Both Madhavan and Sadh inhabit their roles consummately. Sadh is particularly good as the depressive who passes his days in a blur. Viewers may have trouble accepting Madhavan as a cold-blooded killer – his soft features do not help – but to the actor’s credit, he is able to walk the contrast between tender and merciless with admirable finesse.
It is important to breathe so don't forget to watch breathe!
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Dustbin reviewed Rangbaaz
'Rangbaaz' showcases in vivid detail, the life and times of UP criminal, Shree Prakash Shukla (changed to Shiv Prakash Shukla in the series), laying bare the grisly specifics of his short life, in nine, finely-nuanced episodes.
As the facts of Shukla’s life of crime and murder tumble out into the public domain, web audiences watch in horror and fascination, absorbing the shocking true story of his meteoric rise in the world of crime, his stunning count of twenty cold-blooded murders in the span of a few years and his close association with top politicians of the country. It is undoubtedly a fascinating tale.
'Rangbaaz' chronicles the transformation in minute detail, taking us along in the journey of the makeover of a gauche young Shiv Prakash into the criminal Shukla, the most wanted man in India. His metamorphosis is at once stark and spectacular. We watch in mesmeric enthrallment, as the shy and wary young student becomes the feared criminal who lives life to the beats of his self-composed gangsta rap. Once initiated into the world of crime, Shukla is unstoppable. He dodges the clueless UP police with calm disdain, plans murders with cold-blooded nonchalance and shoots his victims dead with practiced ease. As the heady power of the crime world and the unrelenting clout of the gun goes to his head, he takes an almost gleeful delight in pumping bullets into his victims. One or two shots are never enough for our trigger-happy protagonist – it has to be a full round, pumped into the almost lifeless body of his target.
Rangbaaz is a masterfully made crime drama, the after-effects of which will stay with you, long after you’ve finished watching the show. The unnerving story of a good guy gone bad will wrench your heart and twist it with its pathos-laden undertones, until you feel a numbing pain in your chest for the promising life lost to a disturbingly sinister criminal system. On the surface, Rangbaaz is simply a tale of the rise and fall of a dreaded UP criminal. But underneath its seeming simplicity lie manifold layers of harsh reality – the evil absolutes of the ominous politician-police-criminal nexus that is widespread in the country. It is prevalent as much in 2018 as it was in 1998, the year Shiv Prakash Shukla met his maker.
And now, it’s time to write an ode to Saqib Saleem’s outstanding performance. To say that this is the actor’s best performance till date would be disgustingly underwhelming. He is terrific as Shiv Prakash, getting under the skin of the dead gangster’s character with flawless perfection. He lends credence to his portrayal of Shukla, getting right each nuance, as also the dialect and mannerisms, with consummate precision. His is a crisp, bracing performance, and the glittering crest of the show.
Ranvir Shorey and Ravi Kishan give evidence of the vast reserves of talent that reside within them. Both have given measured performances, without a hint of unnecessary histrionics sullying the gravity of their roles. It is Tigmanshu Dhulia, however, who has caught our fancy with his brilliant portrayal of the cunning Ram Shankar Tiwari. The man is a marvel really.
Watch 'Rangbaaz' for Saleem’s spectacular acting, for its superb narration and for the gutsy gangster who is no more, but who’s left behind a tale that is the stuff of legends. Watch Rangbaaz, period.
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Dustbin reviewed Hello!
The story revolves around a vortex of love, betrayal, and mystery in the lives of Anonyo, his wife Nandita, and Nina with whom Anonyo has an extramarital affair. As the story proceeds, the mystery around Nina, her past, her intentions, and her association with Nandita gets deeper. Meanwhile, we learn more and more about Anonyo and Nandita, and their families. But, the thing that feels satisfying about the series is Niandita’s growth, as she learns to stand up for herself. As the story unfolds, it presents big questions about Nina (and a mysterious well-wisher of Nandita). Who is trying to reach Nandita and tell her about her husband’s affair? Who is framing Nandita and making it seem like she is having an affair? In the face of false accusations, Nandita doesn’t defend herself or make an effort to prove the truth. Instead, she asks why it’s a sin if she is having an affair, while the same crime is excusable for her husband. Nandita does not take the responsibility of producing a character certificate, because her husband remains unapologetic and unabashed about his infidelity.
Almost every episode offers a cliff-hanger, and the excitement might just kill you!
"Love" finds an interesting representation in the story. You’ll soon find that it’s a universal feeling, beyond restrictions of gender. And that’s where the maturity of handling a sensitive subject lies. There are multiple layers in the characters; and, while you’ll want to hate Nina, you won’t be able to stop yourself from empathising with her. Whether or not you condone her stalkerish actions and obsessive traits, you’ll recognise her love, as well.
The treatment of the story gets slack by the time it reaches mid way. The dialogues become repetitive, sounding forced at times and lacking conviction. The pace gets slow with non-gripping, though relevant, flashbacks. As far as performances go, Nandita is the protagonist and Raima plays her part with full conviction. Priyanka is a good actor and is convincing as Neena.
Love, betrayal, blackmail, war – Hello web series is a thriller drama that deserves your attention. Don’t miss it!
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The web series revolves around a father trio who are retired but want to become “cool” and get along with the millennials. They sit around drinking chai at their regular hangout spot and think of new things to do that will bring them closer to the newer generation. The fathers try things like opening up a start-up and drinking with their sons and end up hilariously failing each time. These adventurous fathers try to break the stereotype that Indian fathers are against new ideas. The theme of the show is loosely based on the cherished American sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The concept is poles apart but the level of humor is the same if not more.
The script is well-written and has funny moments that will leave the audience in peals of laughter.
The extremely talented actors take the dialogues to a different level with their impeccable comic timing. The show has a considerably new concept and caters to a variety of audience.
This web series is for someone looking for witty humor, it is a worth a watch for the brilliant actors.
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