Tandav Review: Saif Ali Khan-Dimple Kapadia starrer is a mere extension of an average Bollywood film

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Sunil, Kumud Mishra, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Anupp Sonii, Dino Morea, Sandhya Mridul, Kritika Kamra, Sarah-Jane Dia and more

Release: January 15 

OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video  

Ratings: 2/5

Given that we are the largest democracy in the world with a diverse population and that Indian politics per se can be a genre in films that can give any thriller a run for its money when explored beyond a mere battle of who is outsmarting whom to sit on the only chair at Raisina Hill, one of the most-anticipated releases this month, Ali Abbas Zafar's 'Tandav' on Amazon Prime Video, headlined by an ensemble cast that includes Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Kumud Mishra and others, fails to rise above expectation. 

What seems like an extension of a Bollywood film (you might get a feeling that you are watching the film 'Rajneeti' at some point), the politics and action in the series is divided into different episodes. 

There's a two-time Prime Minister (Tigmanshu Dhulia) heading the strongest party (JLD) in the country whose son Samar Pratap Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is eyeing the 'PM ki Kursi' and makes a few bold moves with the help of his wife Ayesha (Sarah-Jane Dias), friends in the media and an unswerving henchman Surpal (Sunil Grover). 

Then there are a few other ambitious leaders all waiting-in line to be the next PM, a not so faithful henchwoman Maithili (Gauahar Khan) and a motivated senior party karyakarta Anuradha Kishore (Dimple Kapadia) who is romantically linked with the PM. 

But what is disappointing is that all of them combined, fail to make an impact. 

The only bit that deserves a little attention is the student politics playing out in a university, Vivekanand National University (VNU), where solgans of 'azaadi' are heard and student body leaders thrown into jail, some even murdered, to serve the purpose of placing that one person on the Raisina Hill chair. 

Does it ring a bell?. Of course it does! And that is the whole point after the makers promised to touch upon relevant topics that made headlines in the recent past, in a fictionalised way of course. 

The 'left' politics playing out in a known varsity, a party that is strongly 'right', a threat from the youth of the nation, farmers protesting to save land from the ruling party that is trying to buy them out, the storyline is all too predictable. 

And while the makers have tried their best to go back and forth flawlessly between how politics is panning out behind closed doors with Samar and Anuradha engaging in a battle of wits and the rajneeti going on at VNU, here's exactly where the series weakens its impact and the characters lose their depth. 

However, Zeeshan Ayyub is a treat to watch as a student leader driven to make a difference in society, Sunil Grover, Kritika Kamra, Dino Morea and Sandhya Mridul look promising too.

Saif, on the other hand, does not have anything new to bring to the table and is on most parts upstaged by Dimple Kapadia's stellar performance.

The one thing that Saif does bring to the table is a grand view of Pataudi Palace where most parts of the series was shot. Drone cameras are used to give the viewers a glimpse of the historic palace. 

Meanwhile, the fact that the show strives to strike a balance between facts and a fictionalised version of it does not create the desired impact becasue the fabric of the narrative seems flawed and the series in totality does not rise above the pedestrian. 

In all honesty, with all the hype around the series last year and the trailer receiving a great response following a promise by the makers to provide the audience a never-before-seen political thriller with the addition of a 'fictionalised' version of satta aur kursi ki ladaai, the new nine-part web series is not one from which the viewers can actually expect anything new at all.