Murders are a common scenario for the authorities to deal with, but a twisted serial killer on the lose is another ball game. Voot Select’s ‘Asur’ blends science, technology, mythology and psychology to churn out India’s first mytho-thriller.
Story
The plot begins with Nikhil (Barun Sobti) and Naina (Anupriya Goenka) who are a happily married couple with a child living in the USA. A former CBI forensic expert, Nikhil is unhappy with his present profession as a teacher.
He continues to receive mobile alerts of unidentified dead bodies from all over by organisations like the CIA and CBI for feedback. He decides to go back to his passion by rejoining the CBI back in Delhi.
In India, Dhananjay Rajput (Arshad Warsi) who is a senior CBI officer gets embroiled in a maze of dead bodies found in different places which leaves the authorities high, dry and clueless. The bodies have something in common and a serial killer is responsible.
Dhananjay and Nikhil collaborate to plan and execute a strategy with clinical precision to stop the psychotic serial killer before more lives are lost. However, It is a wild goose-chase as they’re after someone who is almost a demon (Asur) with many faces.
Performances
Arshad Warsi as Dhananjay Rajput performs well in a role which is tailor made for him. It is not often one gets to see Warsi play intense and well written characters like this. His digital debut will definitely be welcomed by the audience.
Barun Sobti steals the show with a superb display of talent. The character of Nikhil is well-defined depicting emotional trauma and professional integrity. He has ample scope to create a major impact on the audience.
He is very well supported by Sharib Hashmi as Lolark Dubey who does well with his role of a CBI officer. In other supporting roles, Ridhi Dogra as Nusrat Saeed and Amey Wagh as Rasool Shaikh carry out their characters with grace and brilliance.
Positives
Psychological thrillers need to be treated with care and caution as it is a tight rope walk and any loose end can turn the whole series into a disaster. In this aspect, Gaurav Shukla along with Niren Bhatt and Vinay Chhawal have done a commendable job with the concept, story and screenplay. Asur has a striking balance between various nuances of a thriller.
Stories from the Hindu mythology are mixed and handled without disturbing the main plot which is quite admirable. Special mention should be made about the amount of research and homework that has gone into the web series.
Oni Sen, a renowned name in commercial film making and who also makes his directorial debut with Asur has headed this web series brilliantly.
Negatives
The love triangle between Nikhil, Naina and Nusrat could have been cut short. Certain scenes which the three share are out of place and do not contribute in any way to the story.
Arshad Warsi’s potential is not fully exploited. He is capable of giving much more to this series. Maybe we can see more of him in a second season which is not ruled out in view of the inconclusive ending of the first season.
The corpses, blood and scenes of autopsy may be disturbing for some viewers. Even though it is a great story, the gore may have an effect on its reach and viewership.
Worth it?
Though Asur is based on an oft-repeated theme of child psychology, it needs to be watched as it boasts of a great story and cast. It also consists well written elements of suspense, thrill and unexpected twists.
Also Read: Operation Parindey review: A high profile race against time