A Simple Murder (6 episodes, SonyLIV)

Starring Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sushant Singh, Amit Sial and Priya Anand

Directed by Sachin Pathak

Rating: ** ½

With no better option left, the couple in this fair-to-fine series Manish and Richa typify the can’t-do-without-can’t-do-with type of relationship where sparks fly and bullets roar.Aftera while their shouting bouts a drowned in drivel.No matter how many times this hotheaded couple is torn apart by circumstances(read: screenwriters, and there are two of them here) Manish and Richa cannot let by-guns be by-guns. To our amusement they are constantly at each other’s throat, with guns drawn.

Bhai, nozzle na lag jaye! This is a couple with greed guiding them into a ruinous self-destructive relationship.As Manish and Richa, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Priya Anand bring a dash of chutzpah to the table.Ms Anand looks pretty in close-ups, of which she gets plenty. There is another pair of love birds in the series who are on the run from the girl’s powerful politician papa.

Honour killing, anyone? I must say the killings in A Simple Murder are undertaken honorably.The violence is interestingly staged ,and one chase and shootout in a Cineplex is an instant classic. Made me wonder why the narrative squanders away time in superfluous banter which includes lyrics from songs thrown between two murderous ruffians, in a mood of lethal playfulness.

The aforementioned ruffians are played by Amit Sial and Sushant Singh.Both masters of their craft, they infuse their characters and situations in the plot with a purpose and an energy beyond what it deserves. Sial is specially superb with his raucous mix of ruthlessness and mischief.If there is a next season I want to see much more of Sial and Singh.

Gopal Singh as a cop who may not be as corrupt as he seems, does a rare thing with his character: he turn a stereotypical Simmba into something more.Yashpal Sharma as a gangster moonlighting as a goodman is also very funny even when he knocking down victims with ill-concealed glee.

But the glistening surface some of the performances is weighed down by what lies underneath.Attempts to be sharp and alert are successful only to a point. After a while it falls apart.The midriff sags and the grand finale is so clumsily staged it negates almost every good thing that crops up in the plot once in a while.

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