A clever, confident, mature and bold new age of television and film has emerged in the Indian landscape and ‘Paatal Lok’ perfectly embodies those sentiments.
To be honest, a lot of credit needs to be given to the numerous streaming platforms that have cropped up over the years – giving free rein to producers and directors to share fresh, original and diverse content that viewers have been yearning for since the turn of the century.
Produced by Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma’s banner), written by some insanely talented people in Sudip Sharma Sagar Haveli Hardik Mehta & Gunjit Chopra, and
directed by Avinash Arun & Prosit Roy, the show brilliantly captures and showcases the dark underbelly of India – something most of us prefer not to talk about or turn a blind eye to – staring straight into the abyss replete with issues revolving around power, greed, hate, politics, caste, race, gender and religion. Yes. But they manage to pull it off somehow. I guess the magic lies in its delivery and dialogue.
‘Paatal Lok’ does a lot of things right. From its cast to its character development & from its plot to the pace of the narrative – there’s a whole lot going on and the creators have done a commendable job at delivering a solid story.
However, the show does falter as it comes to a close. It tries too hard to stitch everything together and leaves nothing for the imagination. I would have preferred a more ambiguous ending both when it comes to morality as well as the narrative.
On the whole, ‘Paatal Lok’ is a rare, dark, gripping, intense, and deeply rich & layered series that you really really need to tune in to.