Star Cast: Jeet, Ritwik Bhowmik, Aadil Zafar Khan, Prosenjit Chatterjee
Web Series Review: KHAKEE: THE BENGAL CHAPTER is a gripping thriller that works due to the subject
Director: Debatma Mandal, Tushar Kanti Ray
Synopsis:
KHAKEE: THE BENGAL CHAPTER is the story of an honest man in a lawless state. The year is 2002. Shankar Barua aka Bagha (Saswata Chatterjee) is an important party member of National Ganashakti Sanghathan. He’s also a dreaded gangster of Kolkata and the party has tolerated him due to his popularity. But when Bagha kills a shipping businessman and tensions flare up, Saptarshi Sinha (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) is called in to head the SIT of Kolkata Police. One of the core members of the party, Barun da (Prosenjit Chatterjee), informs Bagha that he needs to lie low for some time and that some of his men will get arrested. The former assures the latter that they’ll be released soon. Barun has a mole in Saptarshi’s team who informs him of the raids in advance. Hence, Saptarshi fails to catch any smuggled goon or Bagha’s men. But through an informer, Saptarshi finally raids a warehouse. A cop kills a young boy working under Sagor Thalukdar (Ritwik Bhowmik) and Ranjit Thakur (Aadil Zafar Khan). Both report to Bagha. Ranjit is so enraged with the young boy’s killing that he ends up killing the cop responsible for the murder. Bagha is enraged and asks both of them not to commit any more foolhardy acts. Yet, they end up killing none other than Saptarshi next. Arjun Maitra (Jeet) replaces Saptarshi. Arjun is sharp and believes in encounters and his methods are different from that of his predecessor. His action has a dynamo effect, which changes the politics of Bengal forever. What happens next forms the rest of the series.
Khakee: The Bengal Chapter Story Review:
Neeraj Pandey, Debatma Mandal and Samrat Chakraborty’s story is on the same lines as KHAKEE: THE BIHAR CHAPTER – a man trying to clean the system despite immense challenges. Neeraj Pandey, Debatma Mandal and Samrat Chakraborty’s screenplay is gripping and despite the long length of certain episodes, the audience will be invested in the goings-on. Neeraj Pandey, Debatma Mandal and Samrat Chakraborty’s dialogues are sharp. Many dialogues are in Bengali and hence, non-Bengali viewers will require the help of subtitles.
Debatma Mandal and Tushar Kanti Ray’s direction is great. There are far too many characters and sub-plots but they put it together neatly. Like the first part, simplicity is the key and the makers ensure that there’s no room for confusion. The other big strength is unpredictability. One never knows what twist awaits and who’ll get eliminated. Certain characters, who seem to be crucial parts of the narrative, are finished off pretty early and those who seem not-so-significant turn out to be the major drivers of the story. Several scenes stand out but the one that truly deserves a mention is when a senior party member slaps the chief minister in private. The way their equation changes drastically is seen to be believed. If this was a film scene, it would have raised a lot of laughs in cinemas. The fourth episode ends on a shocking note and the last three episodes are very gripping as things go horribly wrong. The show ends on a justified note.
On the flipside, the entire parallel track of a cop confessing is quite solid. But this whole bit could have been better explained. Even the skeleton smuggling aspect comes up all of a sudden and seems forced at first. Lastly, the earlier part had set a benchmark. Its last two episodes kept viewers on the edge of their seats. That kind of high is missing here. The makers try their best but somewhere, viewers know it’s going to be a happy ending and hence, the tension doesn’t go up to the desired level.
Khakee: The Bengal Chapter Performances:
Jeet has a late entry which is surprising since he’s the hero. But he makes up for it with his towering personality and rocking performance. Ritwik Bhowmik and Aadil Zafar Khan are the stars of the show. They enhance the impact of several scenes to another level and dominate the other actors. Prosenjit Chatterjee underplays his part perfectly. Saswata Chatterjee delivers a powerful performance. Chitrangda Singh (Nibedita Basak), Aakanksha Singh (Aratrika), Mahaakshay Chakraborty (Himel) and Tenzin Bodh (Cheena) leave a tremendous mark in supporting roles. Shraddha Das (Saumya), the sole link between the two seasons, is lovely. Shruti Das (Manjula; Sagor’s wife) deserves a special mention; her track stands out and is very moving. Sweta Mishra (Deepa) and Preetam Ganguly (Manik; Deepa’s brother) are also memorable. The others who do a good job are Pooja Chopra (Khushi), Joy Sengupta (Commissioner Bhaskar Bhattacharya), CM Shirshendu Babu (Subhasish Mukherjee), Nyra Banerjee (Rekha; Saptarshi’s wife), Rahul Dev Bose (Somnath aka Som) and Pallavi Chatterjee (Som’s mother). Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s role is mentioned under ‘Special Appearance’ and he’s dependable as always.
Khakee: The Bengal Chapter music and other technical aspects:
Jeet Gannguli’s music is nothing great. The only song of the series – the title track – is just okay. Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background score is in sync with the show’s mood. Tushar Kanti Ray, Arvind Singh, Tarashree Sahoo and Souvik Basu’s cinematography is stunning and captures Kolkata aptly. Abbas Ali Moghul’s action is a bit violent and it is as per the requirement. Varun Gupta and Kriti Malhotra’s costumes and Rajesh Chowdhury’s production design are realistic. Praveen Kathikuloth’s editing is satisfactory.
Khakee: The Bengal Chapter Review Conclusion:
On the whole, KHAKEE: THE BENGAL CHAPTER is a gripping thriller that works due to the subject, ensemble cast, gritty narrative and plenty of twists and turns.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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