BOTTOM LINE
Formulaic Cop Tale, Timepass Stuff
PLATFORM
Jio Hotstar
RUNTIME
6Hrs 26Mins [10 Episodes]
What Is the Film About?
Avinash Mishra, who leads a dedicated Special Task Force (STF) team, takes charge of a dangerous mission that triggers a chain of chaos. The team finds themselves suspended and targeted by powerful enemies. As their personal lives unravel and political conspiracies deepen, the squad must go all out to prove their innocence, protect their families, and fight back against corruption and betrayal.
Performances
Randeep Hooda is definitely good at giving an edginess to the character beyond all the machismo and dialogue-baazi; he lends it a certain panache and the rustic quality essential for the story’s backdrop. Urvashi Rautela surprisingly delivers the goods with a sensitive performance as a wife who absorbs the chaos and toil of her husband’s work. Freddy Daruwala’s steely presence as an emerging politician impresses.
Shalin Bhanot makes a mark in a role with a respectable arc. Rajneesh Duggal and his character promise much but deliver little. B Shantanu and Pravin Singh Sisodia pass muster in brief, supporting roles. Amit Sial and Abhimanyu Singh play the standard villains who signal warnings and act as literal killing machines, though you expect more meat in their characterisation. Zakir Hussain remains underused.
Analysis
Inspired by the story of a former encounter specialist and a decorated super-cop, Inspector Avinash is an insider’s account of life within the police force, amplified by typical Hindi film-style loud masala. While it gives you what you expect from a show dealing with a forthright cop torn between duty and family, it fills the void for stories on OTT platforms that capture the life of small-town India, to a certain extent.
The ingredients are all too familiar. The cocktail comprises internal politics within the force, moles in teams, the grand old nexus among dacoits, politicians and gangsters, undercover missions and hollow personal lives. At times, it feels overcooked, like a kid who’s overdone his homework with far too many characters, subplots and conspiracies to justify the lawlessness in UP. Still, the show is largely watchable.
It is hardly necessary for a viewer to watch the first season to take stock of the action in its successor. Everything is explained adequately, perhaps even more than required. Writer-director Neeraj Pathak is good at building the momentum of an oft-told story at a leisurely pace. He lets you warm up with a few low-stakes missions and conflicts to get a sense of its ambience, and goes all guns blazing with the drama later.
While Avinash is a righteous professional and is respected by his peers, life does not pan out like a dream for him, both at work and at home. He isn’t always rewarded on duty for his acumen; his school-going son is suspected of killing a classmate, leaving Avinash with little time to address his wife’s concerns. Meanwhile, one of his peers has suffered a heartbreak, and another colleague struggles to get his daughter married.
Childhood chums Azimuddin Ghulam Sheikh and Devi, a transgender person, make a mockery of law and order with their criminal activities, aided by a few goons, dacoits and small-time players. On the political front, the home minister, Veer Bhushan Thakur, sets his eyes on the CM’s chair while falling in love with the wife of his addict brother, Shashi Bhushan.
The women, barring an exception or two, mostly remain at the receiving end, bearing the brunt of the men’s actions, be it a cop, politician or even a dacoit. The drama is consistently old-school. When his wife is molested, the cop is restless to kill the perpetrator. When falsely accused of stealing jewellery, a senior cop commits suicide. In the middle of a courtroom argument, a colleague suddenly goes rogue.
Yet, with all the herogiri, Inspector Avinash shows how most of his men are broken and vulnerable inside. They are tired of their personal lives falling apart, surrendering to work, losing colleagues in missions and constantly being doubted for their integrity, but they still show up. The nearly seven-hour runtime provides the space for the storyteller to address such contradictions.
With the plethora of characters at his disposal and a constant flow of events, from investigations to professional setbacks to betrayals, chases, political conspiracies and courtroom drama, the viewer remains generally invested in the proceedings. In the midway stage, once you are familiar with its world, plot points and characters, the director delays the inevitable. The excesses are hard to bear, even if well-executed.
The courtroom bits are too vanilla, and the writing drags. However, the show still ends on a high note, with a delicious confrontation sequence between Sheikh and Mishra, paving the way for another season. At 10 episodes, Inspector Avinash overestimates the potential of its target audience, even if it gives them what they want.
Inspector Avinash Season 2 is old-school masala done reasonably well. The series is stuffy, predictable, but feels like a fond homage to the average 70s, 80s cop sagas with a modern-day sensibility. The upgrade could’ve been better, though you, honestly, don’t mind some of it.
Music and Other Departments?
Vijay Varma’s music is forgettable at best. The composer’s efforts for the key moments do not invite much enthusiasm into the proceedings. The stamp of class for the show comes through the well-mounted visuals (by Chirantan Das), with the costumes and production design doing their part to contribute to its aesthetic appeal. The writing is expansive and long-drawn, attempting to provide closure for way too many characters and situations, which sometimes tests a viewer’s patience. Perhaps keeping it to a six-to-seven episode outing would have ensured a tighter show.
Highlights?
Familiarity, ideal for timepass viewing
Busy screenplay
Randeep Hooda’s performance
Drawbacks?
Old-fashioned writing choices
Stuffy and indulgent
Many black and white characters
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, given that I had set my expectations low
Will You Recommend It?
If you want a taste of old-school cop dramas in the 80s, it is an ideal nostalgic ride. Otherwise, it’s pretty much formulaic.
Inspector Avinash S2 Series Reviewed by M9 News
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