At a time when most web shows are full of s*x and abuse, Eros Now Quickie’s latest offering cop drama, The Investigation, starring Hiten Tejwani and Leena Jumani, comes as a whiff of fresh air.
IWMBuzz.com was among the select few who were shown the first two episodes of the series, which will start airing in toto from tomorrow.
The first thing that we liked was that it broke the monotony of most UP-based digital crime series.
Here the setting is suburban Mumbai, with a good sprinkling of the native lingo (Marathi). This multilingual phenomenon is a good thing, offering realism and location to the narrative. However, the same can’t be extended to states south of the Vindhayas, where the scripts of the local languages are completely different from Hindi. Having said this, folks from up North might find even Marathi tough to fathom.
The edgy story traces the huge mess crime branch officer Vishal Gaekwad (Hiten) finds himself in, after being forced to investigate a late-night murder of student leader, which he himself may have committed accidently, in a stinking public lavatory over a silly incident of a bar argument.
The body is discovered only the next morning, as the attendant was dead drunk. The scene where the cop makes the former write his details on a piece of paper was reflective of the attitude of khaki personnel towards the weaker sections of society.
Another positive was that it shows the police system as it is. The victim’s friend tries to file a missing person’s complaint before the mandatory 24-hour window and is stonewalled.
An obviously-scared Hiten tries to shut the case, calling it an accidental death; but a leak of the post-mortem report, which suggests a human hand, forces the department to ask him to reopen the case and apprehend the murderer ASAP. Prakash Ramchandani who plays the fellow-cop who finds the body has given a good performance.
The first 2 episodes did not have even one love-making scene and nudity. If this show succeeds too, like ALTBalaji’s Uttarakhand kidnap saga, Apaharan, it will show that you don’t need s*x to make a show a success; a good story is enough.
Also, it will prove that TV stars also have the mettle to carry complex layered characters with élan, and you don’t always need high-paying film stars to save the day.
We suspect there will be some link of the victim to Hiten’s estranged wife (Leena Jumani). We wonder why the creative makes her speak only in English, especially if her command over the language is not so good.
The stage is set for a thrilling drama and lots of twists and turns will certainly be the order of the day. Is Hiten really the murderer or did something else happen overnight is the question that pops up in our mind.
It is good to see Hiten playing different characters, apart from the good husband and son that he would do on TV. He is also bringing out the required body language of a cop, complete with the moustache.
There is one issue – though the first 2 episodes did not really open up other possibilities, it would be tough for the writer to focus on suppressing the crime.
Produced by Eros Motion Pictures and Abuzz Original Production, the series has enough content to hold viewers’ interest for the episodes to stream.
We at IWMBuzz.com credit The Investigation with 3.5 out of 5 stars.
