Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo is a thriller that is spearheaded by Dimple Kapadia as the Drug Lord of the fictional 'Rann Pradesh'. The Desi Pablo Escobar, Savitri, is a matriarch of a family of drug dealers in a lawless North Indian desert town which is a world of tough and unapologetic women who lead their lives on their own terms. Savitri operates out of a haveli and is surrounded by her team comprising two daughters-in-law, Kajal (Angira Dhar) and Bijlee (Isha Talvar), and her rebellious daughter Shanta (Radhika Madan). The fearsome four play a foundational role in strengthening the base of the business with the help of satellite phones, friends in the right places, and the enviable ability to stay three steps ahead of their enemies including the Monk (Deepak Dobriyal) and his henchmen.
A movie named Gangs of Wasseypur II in the last decade kicked off with a scene of the Tulsi serial being shown on television while shots were being fired. This scene in itself was a statement that the movie was going to be filled with violence and shots being fired. Similarly, this series directed by Homi Adajania, kicks off with a beheading scene making it a statement that violence is going to be one of the founding pillars of this script written by Saurav Dey, Nandini Gupta, and Aman Mannan.
While the women thrive on power, they also make some reckless decisions for which the price has to be paid. The major part of the eight-episode Hotstar Specials series' tale is unfolded in a secret bunker where the family grows its one-of-a-kind opium called 'Flamingo'. Savitri has two bickering US-returnee sons, Harish (Ashish Verma) and Kapil (Varun Mitra).who find the bunker after being clueless for years about the actual nature of the business which their mother runs. Upon their discovery of the business, Savitri decides that she would name a successor soon.
The backstory of key characters in the story gives a very well-rounded and holistic understanding.
Though the energy and pace of characters like the Monk fail to match with Savitri which is obvious as they are just playing second fiddle. The pace of the series overall at times fails to glue the audience to their seats as hard as it initially did. There will be moments when your focus and interest might shift from the family's plot to rather the personalised journeys of those characters.
Despite feminism raging in the series, Dinesh Vijan’s production house, unfortunately, painted all strong female characters with similar brushes viz. lovers of sex and violence.
Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo may be a bit of many things but it is undeniably worth binge watching. The perfect sequel-worthy halt which marks the end of Season 1 of the show will make viewers bonkers for Season 2.