Tabbar review: Riveting tale of a family that stops at nothing

Rating: 4/5

SonyLiv Originals’ crime thriller, ‘Tabbar’, glorifies the selfless love that binds a family and the intense adversities they can face for each other.

Story

Omkar, a retired policeman lives with his wife, Sargun and his younger son, Tegi in Deepnagar, Jalandhar. Omkar is a doting husband who looks after his ailing wife and assists her with household chores. His elder son, Harpreet a.k.a Happy lives in Delhi for his coaching classes as he aspires to become an IPS officer.

A much-awaited visit by Happy becomes the source of all the chaos. A minor incident of swapped bags and the absence of a particular item creates a clash between Maheep and the family. Maheep looses his life after being shot down by Happy. Omkar decides on the disposal of the corpse instead of surrendering to secure the family’s future.

Maheep is the younger brother of Ajeet Sodhi, an upcoming politician who loves his brother dearly. Ajeet’s people are already trying to locate Maheep through the shreds of evidence they have. All of this vaguely asserts the family’s participation in the act. They try hard to look normal but pressure mounts with the discovery of Maheep’s corpse.

Omkar tries hard to remove any traces that would link the crime to the family. He strongly responds to any suspicions and his hands do not tremble to hurt anyone who comes after them. This leads to more deceits and crimes. Omkar later realises the wild consequences when his wife becomes mentally unstable as an after-effect of their gruesome deeds.

Performances

‘Tabbar’ – the Punjabi word for ‘family’ is an ideal title that explains the main theme. The director, Ajitpal Singh has reified the story with such finesse, upholding pure emotion and sensitivity.

Pavan Raj Malhotra is at his finest representing the strong character of Omkar, with a stupendous performance in every scene. Omkar is the example of an ideal man who loves his wife dearly and takes good care of her. He is a caring father with a strict demeanour, who loves celebrating the achievements of his children and works hard to support their endeavours. Malhotra’s portrayal of the character’s resilience to adversities is intimidating and equally enthralling to watch.

Supriya Pathak, already known for her mighty roles yet again amazes the audience with her exquisite portrayal of Sargun’s character. She is a dedicated mother and wife. The softness in her character and her morals doesn’t allow her to do or tolerate anything wrong. She is deeply affected by the deaths that occur and is suffers from immense grief. Pathak exhibits her character with much subtlety and sensitivity.

Ranvir Shorey as Ajeet Sodhi is an upcoming politician with an indignant personality. The only person he deeply cares for is his younger brother. He is completely devastated at his brother’s death and loses all interest in the election campaigns. He only cares about finding the killer and hence, keeps chasing after them. Ranvir Shorey gives an exemplary performance in showing the distress Ajeet is struggling with and the rage that flows through his veins.

Positives

The direction is stellar and does a perfect job in hooking the audience from the get go. The opening scene with Omkar and Sargun burning a corpse is an intriguing start to the series. The scene is different from conventional crime thrillers as it features a middle-aged family man involved in the act.

The series gets darker and darker as it proceeds Everything happens with seamless swiftness that you will have to keep collecting hints to detect what’s coming. It is not a complicated story with extreme twists and everything happens for a purpose.

The names of the episodes and excerpts from Baba Farhid’s poetry described their respective themes, adding a special touch.

The intense scenes, gruesome incidents, and bloodshed perfectly visualize the atrocities that follow. The reckless barbarity is intense and demonstrates family’s helplessness.

Negatives

Something still felt amiss beyond the intriguing performances and the sensitive storytelling. There were specific stories that were started to meet the purpose of the plot but abruptly ended or never concluded.

We are unsure if the story will continue for another season. We have an intermediate conclusion with Sargun’s and Ajeet’s death. But, does Omkar and his family completely escape all the sentences for their crime?

The editing of the final episodes could have been done a bit more efficiently as it felt slow and exaggerated.

Worth it?

This is a type of crime thriller that should not be missed. It goes beyond the precepts of the genre and hits multiple spots perfectly. It portrays emotions and sentiments with utmost sensibility. The escalating tension keeps you hooked to know what happens next. Dynamic scenes with rapid actions, an eerie atmosphere and marvellous performances from the amazing cast make it worthy of a spot on your watchlist.


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