Starring : Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Kumud Misra, Amyra Dastur

Directed by : Ali Abbas Zafar

Produced by : Himanshu Kishan Mehra & Ali Abbas Zafar

So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows on OTT, our today’s pick is Tandav, the much-awaited Hindi series on Amazon Prime. Let’s now see how it is.

Story :

Samar Pratap Singh(Saif Ali Khan) is the son of soon to be sworn-in Prime Minister of India Devaki Nanda(Thigmanshu Dhulia). But in a terrific tale of events, Samar kills his dad and becomes the obvious choice to take the PM’s post. But things go haywire for Samar as Anuradha(Dimple Kapadia) a senior member of the party spoils Samar’s plan at the last minute and becomes the PM. What did Anuradha do to spoil Samar’s career? How did Samar take his revenge? That forms the story of this high-profile political thriller.

What’s Good

What impresses you big time in this series are the solid production values and able star cast. Some of the top names in the industry are roped in for key roles and because of this, the performances of Tanda are top-notch. Dimple Kapadia is solid in her negative role and brings a new dimension to her role.

Gauhar Khan gets a key role and she does full justice to it. Zeeshan Siddique, the young actor does well as the student leader. Comedian Sunil Grover is solid in a negative role and is the surprise package of the show. He gets to play the mean part and is quite effective.

Last but not least, Saif Ali Khan as PM’s son and a power-hungry politician is top-notch. Saif brings his experience into the character and gives a settled performance. All his scenes with Dimple Kapadia are the best in the series.

What’s Bad

The show is directed by Ek Tha Tiger fame Abbas Ali Zafar and starts on a solid note. It gives you a feeling that the series is going to be a crazy political thriller. But once the show gets into the third episode, things change and more scenes related to student politics are showcased. This is where the proceedings get bogged down.

There was no need to showcase the usage of students in the big political game in such a detailed manner. Some more scenes of how Sai goes back to getting on top of his political game should have been showcased.

Technical Aspects

The camerawork is top notch and showcases the series in a rich manner. The production design needs a special mention as the PM’s office, political setup is quite grand and very realistic. BGM by Julius Packimam is amazing and so were the gritty dialogues. The starting three episodes are terrific.

Verdict :

On the whole, Tandav is a glossy political thriller with top-notch performances. It starts on a riveting note but gets bogged down in the middle. The topic deviates and things become a bit predictable by the end. If you ignore these aspects, the controversial series ends up as a passable watch this weekend for its star-studded cast and rich visuals.

Rating: 2.75/5