Crime drama from the 1990s

Sheetal

‘Inspector Avinash’ is a fictional story, inspired by the life of UP police officer Avinash Mishra. The introduction of Randeep Hooda in yet another cop drama is captivating from the word go. Hooda breaks the screen barrier and talks directly to the audience. So, our hero is also the narrator of his own back story, naming and breaking each episode.

‘Inspector Avinash’ looks like any 1990s regular crime drama (read ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’ and ‘Bhaukaal’), with terrorism, politics and a righteous cop in the middle of it all. But then, what makes it bingeworthy? The humour and dialogues. But for the heavy mobile phones that people carry around, the story could very well have been set in the present.

The plot revolves around the Special Task Force (STF) that Avinash is a part of. Apart from Randeep Hooda, who looks charming as ever, the other characters too have been fleshed out well. From personal lives, love interests to their professional abilities and weaknesses, the details about STF team members add to the narrative. At the same time, female characters don’t have much role in this cop universe. But who are we kidding, it’s the 1990s. Some stereotypes die hard in a crime drama — for instance, a Muslim informant. In just three episodes, the director ekes out intriguing characteristics. We have a superstitious cop who whenever he gets into trouble calls up his guruji. It’s already been three times in three episodes. His first challenge takes him to Ayodhya’s Hanuman Garhi temple and the second to Rishikesh. But we gotta watch more to know more.

The fast pace has helped in evoking interest in the series but then, the wait for the next episode is a killer. One episode is dropped every day. For such series, the curiosity of what happens next works best in gaining viewership and with just three episodes, we do not know how many eyeballs would return for more. It would have been better if at least half the episodes of the series had been streamed to strike a chord. The big villains have not been revealed yet and small goons and players are making it an easy task for Avinash and his team. Avinash outshines his team but the actor hits home with his dialogue delivery and straight-face sarcastic punches. Apart from Randeep Hooda, Shalin Bhanot (Baljit Singh) and Harinder Singh, son of Radhe Maa, who debuted with the series, have delivered good performances. It’s worth a binge, and if you are a fan of Randeep Hooda, definitely shouldn’t miss this but then the wait for an episode every day is killing. Is JioCinema listening?