Pataal Lok : An Honest Review

“ये जो दुनिया है न दुनिया, ये एक नही तीन दुनिया है
सबसे उपर स्वर्ग लोक, जिसमे देवता रहते है
बिच में धरती लोग जिसमे आदमी रहते है
और सबसे निचे पाताल लोक, जिसमे कीड़े रहते है

कभी कभी पाताल लोक के जो कीड़े है ना
वो धरती लोग के आदमियो को काट लेते है
और उनके काटने से होता है कांड”

Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate films maiden OTT venture with Amazon Prime explores the murky outlook of dishonesty and corruption in India. The show highlights the fallacies of law system and the deceptive approaches undertaken to ensure order in country.

Hathiram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) suddenly lands with the investigation of the high-profile attempted murder of Sanjeev Mehra, a renowned journalist. Hathiram is the relatable middle-class family man who is looking for validation and recognition. It is tough being senior to an aspiring IPS officer, Ansari (Ishwak Singh) as well reporting as subordinate to once-a-junior SHO Virk. Sanjeev Mehra(Neeraj Kabi), a dim star with loosing TRP for his show, capitalizes on his apparent martyrdom to garner attention. The person who brands himself as Voice of Free Press, ironically resorts to ruthless blackmailing for lucrative cut on media deals. The gang of murderers, Tope Singh, Cheeni, Kabir M and Vishal Tyagi aka Hathoda are thrown into jail and reprimanded by Police. It is only when Hathiram sets on a cat and mouse chase for truth behind the murder motive, does he uncover dirt under the carpet and understands that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

The mythological references are unmissable. The web series is a manifestation of gore-guzzling demons of Pataal-lok compared to the preach-but-not-practice celebrities of Swaarg-lok. The validation seeker mortals of Bhu-lok are always caught in cross fire between the other two loks. Each of the demons have been given particular background story where we realize how we have failed them as society and cast them away to hell for our convenience. The context stories are indeed where we are overwhelmed with guilt and are driven to question the validity of the norms in garb of rules. We identify the glitches in the otherwise, oil-welled system.

Most impressive are the dialogues which strike right at the chord. Most of the lines are satirical and mock the present day India. The show is a boiling potion of every possible herb – homosexuality, caste discrimination, default branding of terrorism with religion, mob lynching, confused teenager, gullible wife, opportunist media lobbyist and list goes on. The fast paced thriller has an extremely riveting plot twist in the end. In my honest opinion, the story arc was cut short with the sudden plot twist. In Epic finale, we realize that the accused were just innocent puppets dancing to the tunes of people sitting in Swaarg Lok. We are left with questions like why was such a huge ruckus created from outer Jamuna Paar to Chitrakoot to kill a notorious assassin. Masterji never comes out of his shadow of his shawl. Sudden murder of Kabir in jail was also left unanswered. For me, these are few underwhelming elements of the show.

The show has commendable performances by the protagonists Jaideep Ahlawat and Neeraj Kabi. The pivotal roles played by Abhishek Banerjee, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Swastika Mukherjee, Mairembam Ronaldo Singh, Assif Khan and Ishwak Singh makes the show worth watching.

Have you watched the web series yet? Then head over to comment section to share your experience. You can also reach me on Facebook or Instagram to share your views or feedback.