Fictional city that borders on reality

Sheetal

It’s not the first time that director Navdeep Singh has mentioned a fictional place called Lakhot. His debut film, ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ starring Abhay Deol was set in the same place in Rajasthan. Navdeep has collaborated with writer Devika Bhagat for ‘Shehar Lakhot’, his digital debut.

However, it’s the characters in the series who leave a lasting impression than the shehar itself. Because a similar web of crime, drugs and power has been attempted successfully by far too many filmmakers. And even when there’s too much happening in the plot, one can easily predict the next move. Actor Priyanshu Painyuli as Devendra Singh Tomar takes the centrestage as a negotiator who reluctantly returns to his hometown. The director has given an extra edge to most characters, building their back stories quite well.

Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal has aced the role of land-mining business owner Kairav Singh. His original story has a lot more scope for character spin-offs though, and would definitely grab eyeballs. Hope, the makers are listening!

The best part about the series is that it gives equal screen space to its female characters to develop, well almost equally. Shruthy Menon’s character, Sandhya aka Sandy, has hints of a well-etched, flawed but manipulative strong woman, something like Sobhita Dhulipala’s Tara in ‘Made in Heaven’. Kubbra Sait as SI Pallavi Raj also does well as an honest policewoman. Raj’s struggle about coming to terms with her sexuality doesn’t feel forced. The same goes for the gay character Vikas Kachdaar, played by Chandan Roy.

From Gurugram’s men and their causal relationship with violence, a housewife Vidushi (Shruti Jolly) happy making reels, a naive Tyagi (Abhilash Thapliyal) and politicians’ attitude towards protests and the downtrodden and weak — Navdeep’s series, though based in a fictional town, mirrors the reality of times.

The two wild-card characters are Manu Rishi Chadha (Rajbir Rangot) and Manjiri Pupala (Bhi Bhenno). The audience would like to see more of them in future. Background score makes you wish to know more about the songs and artistes. Amid theatrical releases like ‘Animal’ and ‘Sam Bahadur’, the series does stand a chance. The eight-part neo-noir crime drama is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and is not to be missed!