Rating: 3/5
The Great Indian Murder is a mystery series adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel, ‘Six Suspects’ and is directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. The series is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Story
Vicky Rai (Jatin Goswami) is the son of Chattisgarh home minister, Jagganath Rai (Ashutosh Rana) and a very influential businessman who tends to get himself caught up in trouble regularly. His father is constantly using his connections to keep his son out of jail but it comes at a cost.
Vicky has made a lot of enemies throughout his life and that eventually catches up to him. At a party to celebrate his latest ‘escape’ from jail, he’s shot dead by one of the guests. Throughout the investigation, several suspects turn up which makes things a lot more complicated.
There’s Munna (Shashank Arora), who is a lowly thief but finds himself at the party disguised as a waiter and carrying a gun. Eketi (Mani PR), a tribal man who was just there to retrieve his tribe’s idol which was at that location. Then there is Mohan Kumar (Raghuvir Yadav) who is a retired IAS officer who serves as a director for Vicky’s company and tends to clash with him because of their massive ego’s.
The lead investigators are Suraj Yadav (Pratik Gandhi) from the CBI and Sudha Bharadwaj (Richa Chadha) from the Delhi police. Sudha is working on the case to make sure her involvement in Vicky’s earlier release is not revealed while Suraj has been assigned by the CM of Delhi to twist the case in his favour.
With so many moving parts involved, the truth behind who killed Vicky Rai takes on a long and winding road before the real culprit is caught.
Performances
Shashank Arora and Mani PR are the emotional tethers during this series. While Shashank is quite charming and has quick wit without going overboard, Mani is overflowing with innocence and desperation due to the situation he’s caught up in.
Pratik Gandhi performs great as the corrupt officer who’s trying to influence the investigation by pulling the strings. Richa Chadha is more of a straight shooter who works by the book in search of the truth.
Ashutosh Rana and Vineet Kumar are brilliant as the slimy scheming politicians who are just playing their own game to maintain their power at the head of their respective states. They come off as rotten people who will do anything it takes to come out on top.
Many of the supporting cast does an adequate job of delivering what’s required of them while not pulling away from the main story.
Positives
The way the story unravels with the addition of each different perspective is a wonderful aspect of the story-telling involved in this series. With each new reveal there are more questions than answers.
This is a good script with some memorable dialogues that raise the level of the interactions between certain characters. Many a time you may find yourself chuckling at the zingers that the writers have integrated into their scenes.
The final few episodes pick up the pace with some major swerves which keep the audience on the edge of their seats wondering what’s going to happen next.
Negatives
Despite the intentional effort to fix the investigation, there are moments where the ineptitude of the authorities stretches beyond an ordinary level of comprehension. They are made to look like fools who do not know how to do their jobs.
There is a specific focus on certain characters without proper resolutions to their arcs, presumably held back for the following season. This particular issue could have been handled a lot better.
Verdict
The Great Indian Murder is an engaging thriller that has a few twists and turns and keeps the audience hooked to the end and will have them eagerly awaiting the follow-up.
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