Earlier this month, we had made our readers aware of Spotify’s riveting science-fiction psychological-thriller podcast ‘Virus 2062’ voiced by Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha. And now, acclaimed actor Ronit Roy (Udaan, Ugly) has made an impressive debut with an investigative thriller podcast series titled ‘ACP Gautam’ where he plays the eccentric yet brilliant titular cop.
You may already be aware that a Podcast is an episodic series of spoken words focused on a particular subject ranging from spiritual discussions, travel, sports, business, etc., and also includes fiction storytelling, which this latest Hindi language podcast ‘ACP Gautam’ belongs to.
Out of the scheduled ten episodes with a runtime of around 40-45 mins each, until now, two standalone stories are currently available for audio streaming on the Spotify platform and new episodes are expected to release every Thursday. The events of ‘ACP Gautam’ takes places in Delhi and are set in 1994.
The first episode titled ‘Plastic Ki Yellow Duck’ is a classic serial killer murder mystery. After the killer’s third victim is brutally murdered, ACP Gautam (Ronit Roy) steps in and finds a common pattern between the killings. And every time the murderer leaves a mysterious yellow duck on the crime scene. Ronit Roy’s sidekick who assists him in the case is the rookie cop Wasim Khan (like Watson to Sherlock Holmes).
The second episode ‘Rangmanch’ revolves around the investigation of a veteran theatre actor who is murdered in a packed auditorium in front of 400 people. ACP Gautam grills the witnesses and examines the evidence to zero down on suspects with motive in this intriguing whodunnit.
Both the above podcast episodes are engaging and addictive enough to make you binge listen to them in one go. Ronit Roy, who has previously a cop’s role in many movies, effortlessly voices the layered character of the protagonist, who is dealing with his own demons. The voice modulations deployed by Ronit Roy are commendable. The way the stories unfold is delightfully reminiscent of Basu Chatterjee’s acclaimed 90s show ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ starring Rajit Kapoor.
Podcasts, particularly fiction ones, are a largely untapped market in India. However, like their audio-visual OTT counterparts, Podcast platforms in India have witnessed a rapid surge after the pandemic. As per PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020 report, India is the third-largest consumer of podcasts after the US and China, with north of 57 million monthly listeners.
We are hopeful that the Indian podcast boom would encourage more Indian actors and voice artists to come forward and like Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s ‘Virus 2062’, Ronit Roy’s investigative thriller ‘ACP Gautam’ is a step in the right direction. And undoubtedly, fiction podcasts have a bright future in India.