Director Bhav Dhulia’s Rangbaaz Extracts Saqib’s Best In A Consuming Crime Drama

Web Series - RangBaaz

Starring - Saqib Saleem, Aahana Kumra, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ravi Kishen

Director - Bhav Dhulia

Rating: 4/5

My Verdict – A well knitted crime drama that draws you into the meshes of power, politics, exploitation and exoneration

Guns, bullets, testosterone is what Zee5’s newest web series Rangbaaz is made up of. It tells the story of a young innocent college-going lad whose one act triggered by an impulse; ushers him into the world of crime and bloodshed! Come to think of it, the premise is not unheard of. Time and now we have come across such stories and films. That for sure is not different. But what’s different is the treatment.

Another aspect that struck me was that there is a strong procedural element to Rangbaaz as the fun Shiv Prakash Shukla metamorphoses into this swaggering gangster. He asks questions to himself, (those silences) he tracks his growth, he dwells on what will benefit him. ‘Rangbaaz’ is not reinventing the wheel – it’s still centred on murders, chase sequences, a romantic angle, an inexorable nemesis that hunts the culprit down - takes the entirety of the series to culminate though!

There is no reason to complain, every facet has been dealt with in a proficient manner. The director was a little too careful to not pique anyone with his first project it seems! Anyone who compares this series with any other web series is either wrong or doesn’t really understand the language of cinema. Notwithstanding the similarity between the themes and perhaps the milieu, as I said earlier, the treatment was different. It was more relatable. Something that happened off the cuff becomes the crux of everything that will happen thereafter. Isn’t life like that?

With power- the gun in a young guy’s hands, comes authority and a certain amount of nonchalance. It also brings in a libidinous streak which is underplayed yet pertinent. Again the usage of cuss words is almost a part and parcel of such a milieu and that too was moderate.

The debutante director of the series Bhav Dhulia struck the right notes with this one. He was bang on with the mood, the lighting, the setting, the expression of the actors and needless to say, it was a swell job done. Bhav who has been an assistant director to director Tigmanshu Dhulia in films like Paan Singh Tomar, Shagird and to Nishikant Kamat in Rocky Handsome and Drishyam has certainly learnt a lot from his masters and it shows in his execution.

The non-linear screenplay was intriguing, the back and forth writing was free-flowing and never did it look jarred. In fact, the non-linear pattern of story-telling and editing definitely was one of the most important feature in the series. The cinematography by Tojo Xavier was nothing fancy because it had to look real and it did, but the framing and the position of the actors in a particular frame, the lighting, the settings were to the T. Nothing looked over the top, it seemed as though, I am right there and watching the events unfold right in front of my eyes and that, is surely an achievement.

Another very important aspect was the sound designing, the background music – the sound track was so appealing that it increased the intensity of every scene manifold.

Saqib Saleem is phenomenal in the series. The ease with which he portrayed Shiv Prakash made me feel as though, it came naturally to him. He looked the part and that took the cake. Shiv’s naivety in the beginning, his gradual getting used to things and extracting a strange pleasure from them, the sense of machismo he derived from his dreadful chore – the way Saqib projected all of this and even more, was sheer  was a treat to watch.

Tigmanshu Dhulia as RamShankar Tiwari was another gem. His restrained corrupt politician act was praiseworthy. Looking at Tigmanshu, one would get to know that he is well aware of the milieu and it runs in his veins. The adeptness he displayed while playing his character will vouch for that!

Ravi Kishan’s Chandrabhan Singh act too is natural. He is a product of UP and I am sure it was not difficult for him to portray his scenes. The man who works his sinister ways from the jail. He sees a similarity in the way Shiv works and the way he worked in his prime, and hence goes all out to guide and help him. Such a benign streak of personality which is quite uncommon in the ruthless world of contract killers and politicians. His character was well written and his performance was equally good.

Aahana Kumra didn’t really have much screen space but she did justice to her role with what she had, she looked the role and played it with utmost integrity.

Ranvir Shorey as the tough sincere cop Siddharth Pandey who doesn’t drink, doen’t smoke and is also a pure vegetarian too gritty in the portrayal of his character.

The best part of the series is the etching of the characters that is well-rounded. Every character had a certain dimension, their background and their inner ingredients made me understand where they came from and their very mindset.

All in all, Rangbaaz is a series that is consuming, and it will hook the audiences to the plot.