Review: Tandav

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Tandav in short makes a lot of effort and takes a lot of time to come to the point. But, by that time viewers have lost interest in the plot and the narration. What could have been a 2 hour feature film has been needlessly stretched to a long sojourn and if that was not enough, leaves viewers hanging for Season 2, too. Ali Abbas Zafar, does not travel beyond the length of a feature film format. He had the bandwidth to create the characters, take time in narrating the plot, build the plot gradually, develop the back story and eventually sew them all together. Alas, it all falls flat and he does not get the web series format too. The trailer had generated enough hype and pity it did not sustain to the finale.

Where does it go wrong? For one, casting. Characters of Shonali Nagrani, Sara Jane Dias, and Gauhar Khan are all so manicured and propah that it beats one to understand the realism of it. Decked up in the ultimate diva templates and at the end of it, they are misfits. The three main pivots to the story, Saif, Dimple and Mohd. Zeeshan Ayub are not built properly also. The impossibility of the plots are often jarring. Sampler: A possible PM candidate indulging in muddling with dirty waters (weird because there are layers and layers one has to cross, to reach that position and there are layers and layers to cross to access these people). There are many flaws in the script and the plot therefore. Multiple characters like Anup Soni, Dino Morea, Sandhya Mridul, Kumud Mishra, Tigmanshu Dhulia (Pity we lost him in the first episode, as he was building up well), Amyra Dastur and many more are brought in with no possible movement in the core plot. Till about episode 3 all seemed to be moving well (at least) and suddenly from episode 4 it all falls flat and does not head anywhere. 

Surprisingly, it takes Sunil Grover to salvage some moments in a lifeless series. He stays in the character throughout and never once slips. Some of the best lines are reserved for him and delivers them well. It must have been quite a bit of preparation, coming from all the comedy stuff he has been known for. He is believable, menacing and carried a cold lifeless look to himself. I guess, he carries off his part the best at the end.

Saif, carries the baggage of a larger than life all too much. His Sacred Games was an underrated performance and it was written very well. His character here has nothing much to do, except sipping whisky and mouthing some jingoistic one liners. Similarly, Dimple too has very little room and perhaps the range of amazing Sarees she displays all throughput does salvage some of the lost moments though. Mohd. Zeeshan has a role cut to his imagery outside of the cinema world and he seems to be getting his mojo. But the core plot being weak makes him look mute and jaded.  

Amazon Prime's April debut with Pataal Lok was massive and carried all the signs of being a well written and researched plot. Casting was perfect and each and every character was so well written. No wonder it still has a shelf life.  

But, with Tandav  they seemed to have lost it. It remains a dud and never really takes off. 

To experience it, it is on Amazon Prime! Watch if there is nothing much to do. 


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