The week gone by was quite eventful as there were multiple notable releases on the OTT medium. These were Mirzapur 2, Taish, A Suitable Boy, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Quiz.
Mirzapur 2 was of course the biggest of them all. In fact it was quite comfortably the most awaited web series of 2020 and was pretty much promoted in a way Baahubali: The Conclusion was post the success of Baahubali: The Beginning. Though by the time it came closer to the release, it wasn't quite seeing bumper hype. Still, it was the best of the year, which means if not a blockbuster opening, it did get a superhit start for sure.
That was apparent in the manner everyone had an opinion about the Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani backed series by the time the first weekend came to a close. Thankfully, it wasn't panned, but then the response wasn't out and out mind-blowing either. It ranged from average to good, hence turning out to be mixed at best. For a large count of viewers, Mirzapur 2 did engage, however not in a way they would have hoped for given the smashing close that the first season had seen.
This was in fact the pet complaint that the Amazon Prime offering met with as one kept hunting for some truly entertaining moments right through the 10 episodes but what eventually came one way was far and few. As a result, the excitement factor wasn't quite consistent, hence resulting in a 'theek-thaak' response word of mouth. What is apparent though is that this Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyendu Sharma and Shweta Tripathi enacted series would move into the third season for sure, and hence fireworks can be expected in 2022.
Same can't be said though about A Suitable Boy which has turned out to be a non-starter for the larger section of the audiences. Streaming on Netflix, the Mira Nair directed mini-series has seen a delayed launch in India after it was also launched in the UK many months back. While that is not a problem per se, what's surprising is that despite the presence of Tabu and Ishaan Khatter, there was just no promotion whatsoever to bring the series closer to the audiences.
The result was there to be seen as there was no buzz whatsoever around A Suitable Boy and it practically came unannounced. Moreover, despite an Indian set up, the series has been made in English and the Hindi dubbing is not up to the mark, hence turning out to be further turn off for the viewer. Not many critics have checked it out as well, which means one now looks forward to the next set of offerings from Netflix.
On the other hand ZEE5 ensures that Taish, a Bejoy Nambiar film which has also been released as a series, finds its way amongst the audiences. An aggressive promotional drive around the action drama ensured that audiences at least knew about the ensemble affair arriving on Thursday. The reviews for the film/series have been out and out positive as well, which means the weekend is already set for Taish and word of mouth should further take forward the Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Harshvardhan Rane, Jim Sarbh and Sanjeeda Shikh starrer.
What was disappointing though was Borat Subsequent Moviefilm that released on Amazon Prime. While one would have expected some sort of marketing blitzkrieg around the Sacha Baron Cohen starrer en route release, that was surprisingly missing. Moreover, the film was not a patch on the first part and though yet again some strong political and social statements were made, the overall narrative had quite a few gross moments that were actually a turn off. Moreover the humor was inconsistent too in this film which was hurt by its own over-smartness.
Talking about being smart, there is an eye opener of a series in the form of Quiz that has been unveiled on SonyLIV. Though it arrived in the international markets earlier on, it has seen its release on an Indian OTT platform only now. The mini-series tells a stunning story of a real life UK couple that was accused of cheating its way to win the top prize in the popular game show on TV, Who Wants To Be A Billionaire. Widely known as the ‘coughing case’, it has now found a series release for itself where there is good dose of nail biting moments as well as dark comedy elements, something that you expect from a UK TV show.
Watch out for
This week sees the arrival of one notable film, Kaali Khuhi, which is a Netflix original. Releasing today, the film is a dark tale based on the rural legend. Spearheaded by Shabana Azmi, this dramatic affair has been put together by producers Anku Pandey and Ramon Chibb who have brought on board director Terrie Samundra. Satyadeep Misra and Sanjeeda Sheikh come together for this film which also features Riva Arora in a key role. Given the fact that yet again the promotion has been rather low key here, one waits to see if it reaches out to the audiences.
Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal.