I started watching Paatal Lok expecting it to be a crime thriller with a socio-political context. I was wrong.

Imagine yourself walking down the street in your brand new clothes when someone dumps a basket-full of garbage on you. Don’t you feel like giving one tight slap in return?  

What if I take you aside, tell you the background story of the garbage thrower, all about his family, childhood, his affairs and his terrible boss. Then I talk about how the garbage collectors couldn’t come to work today and give you all the details about their community, lifestyle and the terrible social realities of their lives.

Next, I give you a lecture on the political backstory that connects both these realities and talk about the shadowy powers that rule the world of garbage collection.

Hold on. I am not done yet.

Finally, I tell you that the actual target was the man walking behind you for some reason. But since the colour of your new shirt was unbelievably attractive, the thrower just couldn’t resist dumping all that garbage on you. So just go back home and wash it off.

Would you just sit back and tolerate it?

That’s what Paatal Lok does… mostly.

Basically, Paatal Lok points an expletive-laden finger at the multiple faultlines in Indian society.

Look, I don’t mind fault-finding. But only as long as it plays an important role in developing a story that grabs the attention. 

This is where this new web series in Amazon Prime fails. Badly.

The premise is an attempted assassination of a popular journalist. By the way, he carries a “left-liberal” tag to make things feel more connected to the present era.

 Is there any actual crime committed? No. Are there larger stakes involved? No.

But there has to be something. Right?

Well, there is something lurking in the obscure background of those who are arrested. Inspector Hathiram Choudhary gets attracted towards the mystery and consequences follow.

In the hand of talented writers even chasing shadows can get exciting. Here, it’s mostly ” much ado about nothing”.

The first four yawn-inducing episodes take us through the lives of multiple characters some of whom have hardly any significance in the main plot-line.

Unfortunately, the directors (Avinash Arun Dhaware & Prosit Roy) seem to believe that making a few people run behind others at regular intervals is the most important tool for injecting excitement in the plot. The actors definitely get breathless with such scenes but the viewers who expect a real thriller, are hardly thrilled.

The simple reason is, none of them led to a definite outcome.

It gets slightly better in the later episodes but the ultimate payoff is not worth the wait.

It was as if the writers desperately wanted to cover as many subjects of the big bad world as possible to make Paatal Lok appear socially relevant to the present times. Sometimes such references are so forced into the storyline that they almost seem like a virtual poke in the eye.

Disguising a thin plotline with the cloak crafted out of various current social and political themes can make it appear closer to reality. However, that’s not good storytelling.

Don’t expect any lighter shades in the storyline too. True to its name that speaks of dark subterranean worlds, Paatal Lok is all serious and grim. The characters hardly smile and the only form of humour that you can expect is in the form of the finest and crudest expletives.

Honestly, Paatal Lok would have looked better with a five-episode run time with much of the unnecessary plumage trimmed off. But the problem is, the crime element in the story is so weak that it simply couldn’t run on its strength alone.

At the same time, there is hardly any major character drama that will keep you hooked into the events. New characters are introduced randomly, men are tortured in lockups, bullets fired, brains scattered around; but in the absence of a solid, tight plot, none of these create the right amount of impact.

All the gore and crude nudity do make the show look gritty but the inherent hollow foundation prevents it rising above mediocrity.

There is one silver lining though. The quality of acting in Paatal Lok is definitely of the premium grade.  Jaideep Ahlawat as the main protagonist, inspector Hathiram Chaudhury, delivers a superb performance. Others like Neeraj Kabi, Ishwak Singh, Abhishek Banerjee and Swastika Mukherjee excel in their roles. Even Anup Jalota, who appears in a cameo, impresses with his performance.

The only person who somehow couldn’t reach the same heights is Gul Panag. In some ways, her role as the middle-class housewife doesn’t allow her to use her acting chops freely.

The mythological name of the show has been given to induce a certain amount of interest among the viewers.  But Indian mythology hardly claims Paatal as a land of evil doers and it is definitely not the same as the concept of Hell. So the nomenclature acts primarily as a marketing tool and hardly has any actual relevance.

Does Paatal Lok offer a way out of the darkness of sociopolitical evils or some light of hope? 

No. Rather, it meekly surrenders to it.

But, why then is it the most talked over thing in the Hindi OTT platform at present? Perhaps, due to the negligible presence of good content in that area.

However, those who are from the world of mega serials and first-time watchers of this platform will surely enjoy the overall look and feel.

There is hope though. With the popularity of the platform rising, perhaps someday, a talented creator will rise to the occasion and deliver something that is truly exciting and binge-worthy.

I will wait for that day.

Meanwhile, if you have lots of time to kill, you can watch it. But don’t expect it to be thrilling or exciting.

If you don’t, stick to your own Lok. I think there are better options available there.

In case you are in the mood for some of the most popular television dramas from beyond our borders, check these out.

By Suvajit Banerjee

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