What a whammy of a series! The five episodes of Jio Hotstar’s ‘Search The Naina Murder Case’ simply, or maybe not so simply, swished by creating a trail of pitch-perfect suspects, each more likely to have ‘dunnit’ than the previous.
Rohan Sippy, long in a creative hibernation, snaps back with a series that hisses and crackles with nervous energy. As expected, the series opens with a gruesome murder. The victim is a college student, Naina Marathe (Chandsi Kataria): the series is a wise and astute caution for kids with phones, and as pointed out by the cop-hero, the more strict the parents, the more their progeny is susceptible to cyber anomalies.
As the suspects pile up, the narrative never feels overburdened with red herrings. Every suspect has a strong motive for the crime. The narration is pacy but never out of breath.
What really elevates the show are the performances. This is not the first time Konkona Sen Sharma plays a crime investigating cop—remember her as the pregnant cop in Murugadoss’ Akira? Sen Sharma here plays a cranky cop with a shrunken patience level, who is thrown together with an abrasive, cocky rookie cop, Jai Kanwal (Surya Sharma), to solve the high-profile murder case in a limited time.
It is no surprise to see Konkona’s cop so in charge. The bandh mutthi is Surya Sharma, a neglected young actor of fabulous skills, he was the ultimate embodiment of evil in Undekhi. Here, he transforms into the pitch-perfect 20-something cop anxious to prove himself. Sharma’s body language, expressions of frustration and disdain for his senior, even the habit of snacking constantly, all add up to creating a cop character who is all khaki in spite of never being in uniform.
The other performances, too, are above the ordinary: Shiv Pundit as the immaculate, too good to be true politician, Dhruv Sehgal as the politician’s right-hand man and Sagar Deshmukh as the murder victim’s father…these are the kind of performances that tend to slip under the crack, as we tend to applaud only the performances defined by hysterics and histrionics.
Writers Shreya Karunakaram and Radhika Anand keep a firm check on the drama, never allowing it to flow torrentially. There is a refreshing restrain in the storytelling; a kind of hush underlines the surface chaos as the two cop-protagonists race against time to nab the culprit.
Ironically, there is no closure to the murder case as the denouement will spill into Season 2, which I can hardly wait for.
What I found an intrusion, as did Sanjukta Das, was Sanjukta’s husband (Mukul Chadda) constantly prodding her to get home.
Do all female cops in our movies have to be badgered by their partners or moms, or both?
That apart, Konkona’s Sanjukta Das comes across as one of the most authentic screen cops since Kate Winslet in Mare Of Easttown. Sanjukta prefers to keep her gun unloaded even when confronting criminals. This serial, much in the same vein, never shoots blanks, even when the ammunition is half-cocked.
