Tandav is an Indian Hindi Political Crime Thriller Web Television series created by Ali Abbas Zafar. It stars Saif Ali Khan, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sunil Grover, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Kritika Kamra, Kumud Mishra, Annup Soni, Sarah Jane Dias, Paresh Pahuja, Neha Hinge, and Dino Morea in main roles. It has a total of 9 episodes and was released on 15th January 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.
This story is of Samar Pratap Singh (Saif Ali Khan) whose party has been in the country's Parliament three times and his father Devaki Nandan (Tigmanshu Dhulia) is the Prime Minister of India. Samar is hopeful that now in the coming time, Devaki Nandan will hand over his position and party to him, but it is not that easy as Samar's father has thought of something else. When Samar does not see his way clear, he poisons his father. But even after this, Samar is unable to become the PM and Anuradha Kishore (Dimple Kapadia), the closest and senior leader of Devaki Nandan and the party, becomes the next PM. However, his close aide Gurpal (Sunil Grover) is always present to help Samar and can do anything for him. Meanwhile, in the war of politics, a young and dynamic leader of VNU, Shiva (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub) also jumps into the field of politics while fighting for the missing students in the university. Now how Samar makes its way in the meantime, this is the story of this entire web series.
Created, Written, and Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar who has earlier directed big movies like romantic comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan to action-packed Tiger Zinda Hai, here he has almost nothing fresh on his plate but yet the story is interesting and keeps you engaged throughout. The show is filled with some strong propaganda and issues and some really heavy controversial scenes which might Ali have thought could work in the favor of the show but sadly after seeing the IMDb rating, it seems it didn't.
His direction is strong and sharp and he does know what he wants to show but he tends to cross the threshold in some scenes like the entry scene of Zeeshan Ayyub as...Shiva..who's enacting Lord Shiva in an act in his university and literally says, "What the...." It might look cool but it was not. Apart from that, the story is about position and power, hate and revenge and that's what made Samar did what he did. The show runs on two-track somehow connected, one is of Samar Pratap and the other is of Shiva, a student of VNU, who becomes a social media sensation overnight.
The problem with the series lies with the characters, they are shown strong but they're shallow. You never get to know why Samar Pratap killed his father apart from a one-line justification and the whole show is standing on that surprisingly. From the farmer's revolt against the police for their land to the politics for becoming the PM to the political parties of the students, everything is relevant and Zafar threaded his story around them.
But my question is where are the oppositions? There is one party, JLD. There are many backstories and are somewhat distracting too. Amyra Dastur's Ada character is wasted here and maybe she'll be back in season two for revenge. This show could have been extraordinary if there could have been more clarity and simplicity on what's going on on the show. It's the limitations and the restrictions of the understanding of the world of politics of the director as he just represents them like vultures and no emotions. Despite all of that it's a perfect one-time watch as it's entertaining and keeps you invested in its flawed drama.
Saif Ali Khan is born to do these kinds of greedy cheat person's role and is terrific as Samar Pratap Singh. He's cool and composed but is vicious and still ready to attack anyone. He has understood his character well and has done a great job. Tigmanshu Dhulia is impressive in his short role. It's Dimple Kapadia who will win your heart with her phenomenal performance as Anuradha Kishore, her expressions and voice are pitch-perfect in every scene and outshines everyone else. Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub as Shiva is remarkable and he's finally getting the roles he deserves. Sunil Grover as Harpal, Samar's henchman is impressive. Kritika Kamra as Sana is also good whereas Kumud Mishra seems to be sidelined and is sadly just about average. Gauahar Khan as Maithili is also fine and others have also lent good support. Overall the performances are great and are the strength of this show.
The cinematography by Karol Stadnik is incredible. The show looks beautiful and grand on every frame and the credit also goes to the production designers Snigdha Basu, Sumit Basu, and Rajnish Hedao. The sets are marvelous, the big corridors and the halls are gorgeously stunning. The music by Julius Peckiam is very gripping and fits the thrilling mood of the show and successfully lifts the adrenaline-rush sequences. The costume design by Subarna Ray Chaudhari is top-notch. The editing by Steven H Bernard is appropriate.
Overall Tandav is not very good but at least it is watchable. The premise is interesting and Ali Abbas Zafar could have taken more time to flesh out the characters so that they could appear more convincing in their acts. The writing too needs more depth and so many flashbacks are also distracting. This could have been another epic show after Mirzapur for Amazon Prime but it missed the opportunity. Backed by some superlative performances and the interesting premise, it can be enjoyed one time but doesn't have anything fresh to offer to become your instant favorite.
Rating:- 3/5
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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 - Review : This Political Drama is flawed but Entertaining!!!){kind=link}
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