Broken News(Zee5, 8 Episodes)
Starring Jaideep Ahlawat, Sonali Bendre, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Indraneil Sengupta, Taaruk Raina, Aakash Khurana and Kiran Kumar
Directed by Vinay Waikul
Rating: ***
Broken News visits the lies and shenanigans of the newsroom with virulent frankness. But after five episodes , when the film’s heroine the journalist Radha Bhargava(played well by Shriya Pilgaonkar) return to the righteous path after straying into toxic territory represented by Jaideep Ahlawat’s cocky arrogant Dipankar Sanyal , the narrative should have quit while it was still ahead.
The Curse Of Extensive Episodes notwithstanding, Broken News has quite a bit going for itself that is interesting and relevant. The rivalry between two news channels, one that believes in giving the public authentic news, and the other where TRPs dictate the content, is interesting, though I must admit that the recent Malayalam film Naaradan with Tomas Tovino playing the TRP obsessed unscrupulous journalist , got there first.
There is a quality of inherent arrogance about Jaideep Alhawat that comes in handy whether he plays a gangster or a mediaperson. It is a USP in a series that moves back-and-forth between two rival channels and its employees who are interesting, though sometimes under-developed as characters. The pretty Sanjeeta Bhattacharya plays a work-shirking rookie;quite the opposite of the work-obsessed Rookie that Vidhatri Bandi played in that other media-conscience exploration in Suresh Trivani’s Jalsa.Sanjeeta’s character has a graph but no space for it to grow in the series that plays it by numbers: sensational news item, and the two rival channel’s approach to it. There isa MeToo angle too,when a ‘superstar’ Akhil Kapor (Sharad Kapoor looking like anything but a superstar) is accused of multiple sexual harassment charges.
In one of the series’ more preposterous plotting plans, Radha Bhargava walks right into the star’s den and he threatens her, “I can do anything with you right now if I want and you can’t do anything about it.”
The culture of male dominance presides over the proceedings like an obdurate deity. You soon realize that most of the show’s power points come from the depiction of fakenews as a male-driven catastrophe. The women mean well. Sonali Bendra as conscientious channel head is angelic in appearance. But she hardly looks like a woman who can control a TRP-driven newsroom.
Bendre looks like a woman who, after cooking a difficult meal , realizes that the guests have all gone to the neighbour’s party.
Interestingly every female journalist on screen seeks inspiration from Barkha Dutta.And that’s not such a bad thing. Every male journalist who plays TRP-stalker seems modelled on a certain Goswami.
I am not sure that’s such a healthy sign.
