Running Riot In Rann Pradesh:
The constant criticism of machismo in crime shows on OTT must have given Homi Adajania the idea of making a show with women playing men—not literally, but in attitude and swagger.
Set in the fictional Rann Pradesh, Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo has a winning idea— Savitri known as Ranibaa (Dimple Kapadia), is the matriarch of her clan and owner of a sprawling business of handicrafts that employs local women, but that is a cover for her narcotics empire—Flamingo is the name given to the cocaine she produces in a lab in her haveli. She runs the cartel with the help of her daughters-in-law, Kajal (Angira Dhar) and Bijlee (Isha Talwar), eccentric daughter Shanta (Radhika Madan), and loyal aides, Cheema (Mahabir Bhullar) and adopted son Dhiman (Udit Arora). Soon after the series opens, her two inept sons Harish (Ashish Verma) and Kapil (Varun Mitra) are returning from New York. The spoilt, overgrown brats have no idea of where the family fortune comes from, or that their wives no longer care for them—Bijlee is having a lesbian affair in Mumbai with a DJ (Monica Dogra).
As the haveli— traditional bones with high tech security– is being cleaned and decorated to welcome the sons, there is an attack by the gang of Savitri’s old enemy Monk (Deepak Dobriyal), the kind of blood-thirsty men who decapitate first ask questions later. At a Mumbai nightclub, the son of the deputy CM overdoses on adulterated Flamingo, and anti-narcotics officer Prashun (Jimit Trivedi), with his wife (Sarika Singh) as sidekick, is sent to the town to trace and uproot the drugs operation.
After the first episodes introduce the characters—the writers Saurav Dey, Nandini Gupta and Aman Mannan seem to be inspired by popular shows like Queen Of The South and Succession—there are backstories of main characters, some minor links (actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Mark Bennington swell the cast) added to the chain, plus a lot or really gruesome violence and graphic sex.
What the Disney+Hotstar gets right is the casting of Dimple Kapadia as the charismatic Savitri, whose traditional outfits, silver jewellery and tattoos hide her ruthless streak. That and the beauty of the locations and costumes that made the often unpleasant and quite predictable show a visual treat at least.
As brutal, foul-mouthed and sexually explicit as every other crime show on OTT; Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo also has the usual number of despicable characters; chemistry wiz Shanta is totally over the top. When the choice is between murderous Monk and coldblooded Savitri, who does one root for? This is women’s empowerment from a blinkered male point of view. There’s a Season 2 surely on the way to tie up any loose ends.
(This piece first appeared in seniorstoday.in)
