Mission Over Mars Review: An Extra-Ordinary Portrayal Of A Historic Feat, A Must Watch

Web Show - Mission Over Mars

Director - Vinay Waikul

Cast - Ashish Vidhyarthi, Sakshi Tanwar, Mona Singh, Palomi Ghosh, Nidhi Singh, Mohan Joshi

Verdict -  Taut Writing And Tight Direction With Great Performances Make M.O.M One Of The Most Engaging Web Shows On Indian OTT platforms

Rated - 4.5 Out Of 5

ALTBalaji and ZEE5 have collaborated for the first time for the first-ever sci-fi web show Mission Over Mars. It tells the story of a bunch of ISA scientists on their first orbiter Mission to Mars. ISRO's has been rechristened ISA in the show for fictionalising purposes!

Well, first things first! It is one of the most awesome web shows I have seen. For someone who has seen Akshay Kumar's Mission Mangal and M.O.M, will definitely like the latter a thousand times more than the former!

Whether it is the writing, the execution., the editing, the sound, the acting, the direction - everything is just TERRIFIC

The plotline is more plausible and a very realistic treatment has been given to it. That, in turn, makes the web show more precise and understandable. The conflicts that arise are much more fleshed out. Many little nuances have been carefully delved into. The very foundation of the show seems to be absolutely balanced, without focussing more on anything in particular. All the characters, all the emotions, all the rivalries and fracas have been showcased!

Talking about the performances, Ashish Vidhyarthi plays K.Muralidharan who presides over the mission that is headed by Nandita Harisprasad played by Sakshi Tanwar. Mona Singh plays a hot-headed and ambitious Bengali space scientist Moushumi Ghosh who faces flak right from the very beginning after ISA fails in its Chandravimaan mission and then she is hell-bent on reviving her career by sort of being (rather projecting herself to be) the main brain behind a successful Mission Over Mars! In a bid to achieve what she wants; she neglects everything else even her family and is too much into what she considers to be her second chance to revive her career that is in shambles! Actress Palomi Ghosh plays Meghan Reddy who is a complete nerd but is very good at what she does and then there is scientist Neetu Sinha played by Nidhi Singh who is the calculations expert and at a time she proves that her calculations can beat even the most efficient supercomputers of that era!

Vidhyarthi is absolutely delightful in his role. He is known to be a lovely actor and he proves his mettle in this one too. As the presiding officer of this mission, he makes sure that his body-language, his voice modulations and even his glances for that matter do all the talking! He has to be a manager of sorts! A mediator between the government and his scientist team so that things move a steadier pace towards achieving what it aims to achieve. He has to make sure that all the conflicts and the dualities are put to rest and a call is taken for the good of ISA. He is absolutely relatable and believable in the character! In fact, Ashish plays the same character Akshay Kumar had played in his film Mission Mangal and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that besides Murlidharan being much more fleshed out in terms of psychology, Ashish's portrayal of the character has put, (as they call it) Chaar Chand to it!

Sakshi Tanwar plays Nandita, a mother to an adolescent son and a wife who tries her best to balance both her work and home. Unfortunately, in a bid to do so, she ends up being a control-freak mother that sort of distances her son from her! She is the head of Mission Over Mars and is the right hand of Muralidharan. Her team's tension is her tension, but she has to maintain her calm facade so that her team doesn't go overboard! Sakshi plays her character to the T. Her calmness and level-headedness in front of her team members and her agitation and botheration about her son and his private life are done adeptly!

The cherry on the cake is Mona Singh and her Moushumi Ghosh! OMG! She is terrific or she is terrific! THE ambition, the jealousy, the over-confidence, the competing mindset, the angst, the feeling of not being a good mother or a wife - The thing is her character had too many shades and that brought out her calibre as an actress and she was jolly good in her role! IT wouldn't be an exaggeration to state that very few people could have done justice to the role the way she did! Hers is perhaps one of the most crucial and important characters in the web show and rightfully so! Throughout the show, we hear the story from her perspective! We get one with her experiences and what her character deals with and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to state that at times, I ended up seeing shades of myself in her character as well!

Palomi Ghosh as the nerdy Meghan Reddy who judges all the guys she goes on a date with and compares her intelligence with theirs but I absolutely sure about her calibre and decisions was too good! The good part of a web show is none of the characters is left out. Every character sort of gets a chance to redeem itself. Had this been a film, this wouldn't have been possible.

Nidhi Singh as the god-fearing and the newlywed Neetu Sinha is also good with her role. She is the most calculative of the group, it is on her calculations that a major part of the Mars mission success depends. She is newly married and really struggles to balance the love for her husband, their desire of having a baby and starting a family as opposed to being a scientist ad being a major part of a mission that is nothing short of historic.

There are many other supporting characters that drive the narrative in their own way, every small character contributes towards moving the web show into what it is, one of the best web-shows on any OTT platform till date!

We all as Indians are aware that Mars Mission was a success the portrayal of it would be nothing new but the treatment of the script, the writing and direction are what matters most. That’s what keeps the anticipation ion the viewers alive, and Mission Over Mars is absolutely on point as far as that is concerned. It kept me guessing with my fingers crossed till the last frame of the finale episode and that is the achievement of the series! Not for a moment was it predictable, not for a moment was it boring. It felt as though I am watching a feat, I was absolutely clueless about! To achieve that for an event this popular is praiseworthy!

The direction is pure class, the writing is taut and the editing complements the narrative. All in all, this ALTBalaji and Zee5 web show is arguably one of the best web shows in the Indian OTT space! - People, it is a MUST WATCH!