What Is the Story About?
The court’s decision to quash long-pending cases spanning over decades is met with widespread disapproval across the country. There’s growing pressure to nail the culprit in a 15-year-old case centred around a girl child Aditi. Then, a team led by a cop Vamika Rawat, also comprising a new joinee Yug, finds unexpected help from Shaurya, an officer from a different timeline.
Performances?
Raghav Juyal has come a long way from his Sonali Cable days to evolve into a versatile performer with outings like Kill and now Gyaarah Gyaarah. As a rebellious cop who’s unafraid to call a spade a spade, he packs a punch in the shoes of Yug Arya.
Dhairya Karwa is a perfect fit to play Shaurya – a vulnerable cop pretending to be a toughie at work. He effortlessly brings various dimensions of the role to the fore and puts up an extremely convincing performance. Kritika Kamra takes time to find her feet in the role but her character grows on the viewer across episodes.
The experienced hands – Nitesh Pandey, Harsh Chhaya, Gautami Kapoor and Brijendra Kala – deliver what’s expected of them within the boundaries of their characters. Rohit Pathak makes the most of a meaty role in his return to the Hindi industry after a brief sabbatical.
Analysis
Gyaarah Gyaarah, the official adaptation of the Korean show Signal, coming from the makers of Kill (Dharmatic Entertainment and Sikhya Entertainment), offers an unusual sci-fi twist to a gritty cop drama that alternates across timelines. The story predominantly focuses on three officers – Vamika, Yug and Shaurya – who battle a broken system and attempt to rise above their trauma through work.
Yug, after a loveless childhood, grows into a typical hot-blooded youngster who minces no words and lands in trouble for his rebellious ways. Thanks to her profession, Vamika has built various walls around her life. Shaurya represents another version of Yug at a different timeline and his only solace remains his love life with a dancer Palak. What brings them together?
The show deals with three high-profile cases that concern the protagonists – the culprit behind the murder of a girl child Aditi, a serial killer from the 90s who’s after career-driven women and the brain behind the abduction of an industrialist’s daughter (which has a redemption angle). Despite their honest intentions, the cops need to pay a heavy price for their integrity.
Elements of time, karma and destiny lend a pseudo-complex texture to the narrative as the creators explore the lives of three broken souls. The sci-fi dimension offers them substantial help in going about their jobs and solving old cases. As they tinker with destiny beyond necessity, there’s collateral damage with irreparable consequences.
It always helps when a storyteller views a mainstream genre from a different tangent – there’s a tailormade audience waiting to gulp it at once and it helps you stand out in a crowd. Gyaarah Gyaarah’s intentions are appreciable but it is like that enthusiastic kid who goes overboard to impress. It keeps outsmarting you with its unconventional narrative, however, at the cost of emotional connect.
Besides the numerous subplots – exploring the system, its victims, the pivotal characters, their past, the criminals and their motives – it chokes you with its breakneck detailing and the consistent timeline shifts. As a viewer, you feel like a guilty student unable to keep up with the professor. The parts, despite being so nuanced and intricately woven, don’t unite to form a cohesive whole.
Gyaarah Gyaarah has fabulous ideas, layered characters and groundbreaking performances but as a viewing experience, it’s more cumbersome and occasionally engaging. Had the creators used the sci-fi angle more sparingly and come up with a less-gimmicky screenplay, Gyaarah Gyaarah could’ve been an equivalent of Netflix’s Dark in the cop drama genre.
Music and Other Departments?
Gyaarah Gyaarah has a reasonably dense narrative and innovative song situations to provide enough creative fodder for Tallz (Karan Jhaveri), who also delivers a solid music score. Kuldeep Mamania’s cinematography serves the needs of the story while Prerna Saigal and Saha Samrat’s out-of-the-box editing decisions add bite to the viewing experience.
Highlights?
Innovative approach to a cop drama
Strong drama, well-etched characters
Impressive performances
Drawbacks?
The gimmicky screenplay
The not-so-seamless narrative and treatment of sub-plots
Did I Enjoy It?
Mostly, yes
Will You Recommend It?
Sure, if you savour cop dramas
Gyaarah Gyaarah Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
