Extreme Evil :
When family members of criminals claim they were unaware of the reality of their loved ones, people are usually skeptical; that’s why the premise of Duranga, the new Zee5 thriller, is interesting.
A possible psychopath and accomplice of a vicious serial killer, using the alias of Sammit Patel (Gushan Devaiah-chilling performance), is married to top cop, Ira (Drashti Dhami—she of the distractingly large eyes). He works as a metal craftsman at home (huge by Mumbai standards), is a dream husband, looking after the house and child caring duties, while his wife goes about solving crimes.
When a new case of a murdered senior citizen mirrors that of the serial killer active 25 years ago in the coastal village of Sarangwadi, Sammit’s perfect life threatens to unravel. The stoic man, who has to use videos to learn how to smile and weep, is shaken.
The series, based on Korean crime drama Flower of Evil, directed by Pradeep Sarkar and Aijaz Khan, keeps up the many twists and turns and ends each episode on an intriguing hook. However, there are too many contrivances—particularly the real identity of Sammit, his parents and his past. These will probably be wrapped up in the next season, since this one ends on a cliffhanger.
As the case gets increasingly complicated with more murders and suspects, Ira’s faith in her husband gets a few cracks. The cops with all their resources, cannot match the investigative skills of a reporter whose boss demands a scoop or else! Crime reporter Vikas Sarode (Abhijeet Khandekar), who knew the imposter as a child, lands up on Sammit’s doorstep, but turns out to be unreasonably amenable to assisting the man who tormented him.
In many crime thrillers adapted from foreign sources, the role of the media is highlighted, but in India, local murders hardly ever make it to the news, unless a celebrity is involved, and 25-year-old murders in villages would rarely, if ever, be dug out.
The romantic aspect of the story and Ira’s moral dilemma, around which the series should have pivoted takes a backseat, and the search for the serial killer’s accomplice starts going all over the place. Ira’s confusion over her duty as a cop and her love for her husband never clash in any convincing way. In the investigation sequences, there are too many loopholes or script shortcuts.
Still, Duranga is competently made (Pradeep Sarkar and Aijaz Khan) with decent performances; the brisk 30-minute episodes are watchable, but it does not stand out in the crowd of OTT crime shows on various channels.
(This piece first appeared in seniorstoday.in)