The Great Indian Mess would be an apt title for this show. I started watching this show without any real expectations but was hooked after the first episode, which I found extremely engaging. The problem began in a small way with the second episode, when the series decided to proceed with every episode focusing on one particular character. This was supposed to be a murder mystery, but because of this decision it started looking like a drama show with a new story in every episode. In my opinion, the show lost focus after the first two episodes. The show began very well as a political thriller, but soon diversified into a hundred other things.
In a murder mystery, it's normal to have multiple suspects because it keeps the viewers guessing, but all of them must have a valid reason or motive to commit the crime, there must be something for them to gain out of it. It's also normal to have misdirection as long as it makes the show interesting. Unfortunately this show fails in doing that and the murder mystery gets lost amid the multiple sub plots that get explored during the show. The series starts as the murder mystery of Vicky Rai but ultimately becomes a collection of short stories that could have been told separately as well.
Having multiple threads in a series works when everything is tied neatly to the main plot, but in The Great Indian Murder multiple characters and their storyline wander around pointlessly before coming back to the central plot. For example, the whole track of Mohan Kumar suffering from a multiple personality disorder is pretty much a parallel story, it's like a short film in itself that had an accidental meeting with the central plot. Although, it has been brilliantly acted out by Raghubir Yadav, an actor who has of late been rediscovered by the Indian Film Industry.
Another subplot that was completely unnecessary was the one with Eketi, the man from Andaman, who accidently becomes the prime suspect of this murder. The show spends way too much time on his story, which ultimately had nothing to do with the main plot. Also, the detectives were investigating such a high profile case, but never bothered to check Ashok Rajput or bring him in for questioning, a man who had no reason to be inside Vicky Rai's farmhouse. The police arrested Eketi because his bag had a pistol, but never bothered to find out as to where that gun was purchased from, who it belonged to. All those details were ignored purely out of convenience.
As far as acting is concerned, every actor has done a fabulous job. Jatin Goswami as Vicky Rai is present predominantly in the first two episodes, but in that limited time his powerful performance ensures that he ends up on the hate list of every single viewer. Ashutosh Rana and Vineet Kumar have done so well that you wish that this entire show was about them. One of the key criticisms I have of the show is that characters disappear for long periods of time, I wish the creators had focused on a small set of characters and revolved the storyline around them, so that we could have them in every single episode.
There are multiple supporting characters in the show and all of them have done really well. Amey Wagh as the mysterious reporter is exceptional and while watching him you wish that he had a bigger role. Himanshi Choudhary's portrayal of Rita Sethi is not too different from the role she plays in Inside Edge, but she is always watchable in her sexy seductress act. Shashank Arora as Munna is probably the most important supporting character of the show and he has delivered a beautiful performance in every single scene of his. I did not enjoy the storyline of Eketi played by Mani PR, but one can't deny that the actor has done a wonderful job in the show. Munna and Eketi are probably the only characters one would root for while watching the show. There are some other supporting characters as well who either disappear after making an impact on the viewer or don't get enough scenes but do show a lot of promise. Paoli Dam, Rucha Inamdar and Parinita Seth belong to this category. Rucha Inamdar especially looked really good, but she was barely there in the show. While talking about supporting characters how can I not mention the rather bizarre storyline of Prithvi played by Deepraj Rana. This guy, Prithvi, was the right hand man of Jagannath Rai, but when he went missing without any message, nobody bothered to check on him ? Jagannath Rai just assumed that since he's not picking up the phone, he must have gone to his village ! I don't think that something like this can happen in real life. Even in a fiction story made for entertainment, it came across as extremely idiotic. Towards the end of the show, we get introduced to 'Ishwari' played by Sakshi Benipuri. Her screen presence was something else, she only has a handful of dialogues but her gorgeous looks ensure that you remember her long after you finish watching the show.
I was surprised by the time taken by the show to introduce our leading stars, Richa Chadha and Pratik Gandhi. I was quite disappointed by Richa Chadha's performance in the series 'Candy' but here she is in good form. Her dialogue delivery is on point and not for one moment does she allow her character to go out of hand. This is the kind of maturity I expect from an actor of her caliber and I hope she remains like this in her future projects as well. Pratik Gandhi is in top form as usual, there may be problems with the way his character was written, but his performance remains flawless as an actor. It's quite brave of him to pick up a role like this because he's not exactly a hero in the series.
The Great Indian Murder is not exactly a bad show, but it seems it has been made keeping in mind that it's a television show and not an eight hour film. There are plenty of loopholes in the show, pacing is too slow, editing is not the best in the world, the story wanders around in multiple directions, key characters don't come on screen for long periods of time and of course the murder mystery still remains unresolved. This show has been adapted from a novel called 'Six Suspects' written by Vikas Swarup, I just feel that the screenplay wasn't adapted very well. A web series should not feel like a novel. I hope they come up with a much better second season, one that has a proper structure and feels more cohesive than the first one.
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