The best part of this drama series lies in its setting and casting. North east has never ever been captured in this much detail ever before on a supposedly main stream story line. Be it their culture, their setup, daily lives and the mock teases of how they are perceived by “outsiders”, it all gives a sense of jubilation that finally someone has decided to take the plunge of integrating India’s North east into mainstream story line. It is definitely the most applaudable and commendable effort by the director, leaving aside the story telling aspect apart, as the effort is literally evident on screen. Whether by purpose or by design, the night scenes are literally pitch dark, probably a reflection of real life situation there. Road transport looks daunting and some cultural titbits that are shown in the episodes makes on wonder on the immense richness this nation has across its spread. For this reason alone, I would recommend to have this series achieve viral fame, so that others keep delving in this direction. Considering that it is getting released on OTT, would it make more sense to have these stories told in their own tongue and have it translated/subtitled with appropriate audio? For all the efforts the production team has put in making this series possible, this would probably weigh less on the difficulty scale. But it would give a wider exposure to the languages spoken in those areas as well, rather than just whitewashing them with Hindi and English. Guess the Maharashtrians inflicted with Bolloywoodivitis will agree to this. It looks so lovely to see those mountains and landscape and the glaring minimalism with which people make their living. The roads especially look both lovely and dangerous. All it may take is just one heavy rain or landslide and entire town could get locked out.
The story is again, bit unique than whatever has been told on screen. The hero has a gift, wherein within minutes of a person being dead, as long as the soul is warm inside the body (as quoted by him), all he need to do is, light up a candle and sleep next to the corpse. He can visit the last hour of the person and can actually see how the person died. Afterwards, he is tasked with accompanying the soul to the lake shore where one boatman comes to take the souls to the other side. He uses this power to help the police track down the vicious killer, who in fact is someone with a similar skill, hell bent on acquiring more powers by defeating the hero. The story begins with the death of an actress, the investigation of which results in death of the heroes brother, who incidentally also saves the life of the police man in charge. And thus forms their relationship and chase for the villain. In between, the policeman’s daughter has feelings for the hero and she is able to see the hero when he travels the last hour along with the soul of the dead people. Her own story has a bit of mystery with her mother’s unexplained “accidental” death and why her soul often guides the hero whenever the heroine is in trouble. The climax felt bit abrupt and abstract for there were many unanswered queries. May be there is a second season in the making but will it be a sequel to this or a whole new one is up to the makers. I personally felt, a couple of more episodes explaining the loose ends would’ve made this a grand single season series. Majority of the cast are from north east (or look from north east) giving it an authentic touch. But most of them, including the hero, look clueless in front of the camera, always looking lost for a reaction. The heroine looks like that girl, whose headshot won the Pulitzer for that year for the photographer. The other downside I felt, the episodes could’ve been better edited and made more crisp. There are lot of repeated scenes and as much as the slow pace helps in setting the intensity level right across, feels it would definitely enhance the story telling.
Overall it is probably one of the best attempts ever made to cover north eastern india in a story line that doesn’t border on documentary and also as part of thriller genre. Sikkim is covered like never before and the casualness with which the local areas get a mention makes it heartening to see. More power to such storylines and may we get more such fresh stories.
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