There are elements that make this show entertaining, and if you haven't seen the original show, the concept is wild enough to keep you hooked, notes Mayur Sanap.
Any show that demands your unwavering attention is a delectable binge-watch material. And if it's a crime mystery, it certainly doubles up the excitement.
Gyaarah Gyaarah, the official remake of the Korean show Signal, is a new offering from Karan Johar and Guneet Monga that has all the ingredients for a bonkers show and yet, delivers only partial success.
Set in Uttarakhand, the story revolves around a series of unsolved cases, deemed as 'cold cases', as the cops fail to nab the culprit behind several killings.
Yug Arya (Raghav Juyal) is a rookie cop working in the Uttarakhand police force.
When a 15-year-old murder case of a little girl is ordered to shut down without any arrest, Yug, with the help of his superior Vamika Rawat (Kritika Kamra), looks into clues in one last attempt to bring justice to the grieving mother (Gautami Kapoor).
The investigation takes a mysterious turn when Yug somehow establishes contact with Inspector Shaurya Anthwal (Dhairya Karwa), who was working on the same case back in 1990.
The two police officers, who are from different time periods, connect each night via a walkie-talkie precisely at 11:11 (Gyaarah Gyaarah!). Taking cues from their conversation that lasts for only a few seconds, they try to join the dots and solve the case.
Right from the beginning, you can see that this is a wacky premise, especially the way the mystical angle is introduced to the story and the fact that there are new ideas being injected into the trite crime genre in the current OTT landscape.
There are elements that make this show entertaining, and if you haven't seen the original show, the concept is wild enough to keep you hooked.
But when you are so invested in such a complex plot, even a little bug can potentially kill the experience.
It is a tightrope walk and Director Umesh Bist's direction shines only in a few fleeting moments until the proceedings move past the point of intrigue. So much so that even the 'mysterious connection' feels gimmicky after a while without the why and wherefore.
The problem lies in the show's approach to the mystery at its core.
Writer duo Puja Banerji and Sunjoy Shekhar guild the web of intrigue in a screenplay that jumps back and forth.
This is the style of show that you want to follow to see how it concludes and there is a zany vibe throughout but the lack of explanation and pay-off frustrate the viewers by the end of this eight-episode series.
There are some odd flashbacks that try to convey more about Yug's past or the dynamic that Vamika and Shaurya shared but ultimately, none of it is tied together in a cohesive manner leaving you utterly displeased with the vagueness.
Is the season 2 incoming?
Or maybe a part 2 of season 1? We don't know. We are just left with questions without any satisfactory resolution.
The biggest asset of the show is fine acting from its lead trio. They perform with such a conviction that makes the concept breathe through with ease.
Dhairya Karwa gets the best written character of the show and he nails it in a well-rounded act.
Kritika Kamra puts in compelling show as the tenacious cop.
After his villainous turn in Kill, Raghav Juyal keeps reinventing himself in a role that greatly benefits from his talent and aura. His Garhwali accent is especially on point.
A bit more development and backstory to their characters would have made a huge difference in making us care about our protagonists, but even at that, the show remains coldly ambiguous.
Hope the next season is in the making, because despite its flaws, there is a lot of promise here.
Gyaarah Gyaarah streams on ZEE5.
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