Dahaad Review: The Sonakshi Sinha & Vijay Varma thriller has good performances

Series: Dahaad

Director: Reema Kagti & Ruchika Oberoi

Star cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, Sohum Shah, Zoa Morani

Platform: Amazon Prime Videos

Bollywood Bubble ratings: 3/5 stars

Dahaad Review:

Thrillers have certainly been an obsession for the industry off-late. Especially, in the OTT space there is a plethora of nail-biting stories one can watch. When I learnt about the story of Dahaad too, I thought a hard-hitting tale was coming our way, but the story lacks an impact. Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, and Sohum Shah in important roles, Dahaad’s roar lacks impact. The problem with the Vijay Varma starrer Dahaad is not the performances, but the story. In the eight-episodic thriller, too much is going on at the same time. Due to this, the essence of the thriller gets lost somewhere.

It looks like the directors Reema and Ruchika are trying to tap into many aspects in one story. They are dealing with casteism, sexism, and infidelity on one side. It even tries to highlight many personal life turmoils, set against the bad drop of a big murder mystery whose death toll only keeps piling up. Set in the small town of Mandawa, Dahaad revolves around the story of Inspector Anjali Bhaati and her colleagues. They are challenged with a case of missing girls one after another. During the investigations things only get complex, and if they can crack it all is something that remains to be seen.

The performances are quite good in this one, especially, that of Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah. There is a lot more that was expected from this Ritesh Sidhwani, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar and Reema Kagti production.

Watch Dahaad’s trailer here:

What is great about the series…

The performances

It is sure kudos to Vijay Varma for delivering yet another amazing performance. He is simply brilliant in his negative role, in fact, you will crave to see more scenes of Vijay in the show. He grabs your interest throughout. Sonakshi Sinha on the other hand has put in some great efforts, but sadly she seems to be trying too hard to get into the shoes of a daunting cop. Gulshan on the other hand is fabulous in the role that he has been given, but unfortunately, he has been quite underutilized. Sohum’s character on the other hand has not gotten justice too. There is potential, but no scope for his character to shine.

Vijay Varma’s villainy

It would be unfair if we did not laud Vijay for his performance in the show. Even though he is the wrongdoer here, there is a swag about him. Whether a humble Hindi teacher or a lover to so many ladies, right from the start we know Vijay has a hidden agenda, but what is something very hard to guess, and Vijay makes it so.

Drawbacks of Dahaad…

The storyline

Spread over eight episodes, Dahaad seems a little dragged in the beginning. The makers take their time to establish what is happening as well as every character’s arc. But in that, they maar the impact of the thriller because so much is focused on the personal equations of the police squad internally. It is only in episode two that things pick up, but once again the end disappoints.

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The character graphs

As I mentioned above, the performances from each actor have been great, there is potential, but it has not been tapped properly. The connection this story builds with you seems very superficial and is forgotten on the way, in fact, there will be a point where you will question the intent behind the story being told. So, I would say, I good set of actors has been wasted on a story that had the scope to be brilliant.

Conclusion:

I would recommend people to watch Dahaad for the subject it deals with and for the performances that Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, and Sohum Shah have given.

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