Rangeen Review: From the Diary of a Male Escort

BOTTOM LINE
From the Diary of a Male Escort

PLATFORM
Amazon Prime Video

RUNTIME
6 hours and 40 minutes (9 episodes)

What Is the Show About?

Adarsh, a journalist and the founder of a struggling newspaper, is shocked to discover his wife Naina’s sex tape with a male escort Sunny. In a vain bid for revenge, Adarsh resorts to Sunny’s help to turn a gigolo himself. While Adarsh surprisingly finds himself at home in an alien territory, at the cost of his professional career, Sunny’s life falls apart gradually.

Performances

Vineet Kumar Singh, embracing newer challenges at every given opportunity, shines yet again in Rangeen, continuing his dream run in 2025 after impressive performances in Superboys of Malegoan and Jaat. As an average man, unaware of his casual misogyny and learns of his problems with time, the actor charts Adarsh’s evolution in the show with depth and confidence.

Analysis

Since time immemorial, the flesh trade has been the window through which filmmakers have cast light on social ills, rotten relationships and personal tragedies. While a few stories use the idea exploitatively to make quick gains, some utilise it as a springboard to dig deeper into a protagonist’s mind-space, introspecting on their choices, chasing uncomfortable answers.

Rangeen, helmed by Pranjal Dua and Kopal Naithani, attempts a colourful, incisive look at male prostitution, tracing the journeys of a couple in a failed marriage. Adarsh slogs tirelessly to make progress in journalism, only to brush aside his wife, Naina, back home. Everything changes when he uncovers a dark secret about Naina’s sex life. As Adarsh takes a drastic decision to get back at her, the show’s true intent unveils itself gradually.

When Adarsh learns of Naina’s encounters, he is upset with himself and doesn’t know how to react. He struggles to understand what went wrong with his marriage. An embarrassed Naina is in no better situation either, trying to find herself again, while being guilt-tripped by her mother. Through their common link, Sunny, you’re offered an unapologetic peek into an escort’s life.

Adarsh, Naina, and Sunny are all messed up, vulnerable in their ways, and the story doesn’t judge them for it. It seeks to be a reflective tale, with the trio in the middle of rediscovering themselves. Adarsh’s nocturnal adventures introduce you to a handful of flawed yet liberated women who speak their mind while navigating the chaos in their daily lives and their repressed desires.

The tension in the story is sustained through Adarsh’s journalism career, an outlet that threatens to reveal the filth out in the open. While Adarsh finds his niche in a supposedly uncouth terrain, the flip-side of the profession comes to the fore with Sunny’s descent, telling you a thing or two of his ambiguities, innate desires and desperate attempts to conceal his reality in an orthodox family.

All along, the show tries to capture the lesser-discussed contours of womanhood without simplifying the hard talk. A woman remains her boss, standing up for herself, putting the men in their place when needed, emphasising that all they need is a companion to lend an ear, in a space free from societal and moral judgement. It presents a unique mix of love, desire, and confusion entangled in a world of crime.

Rangeen, as the title says, is trippy, colourful, weird and engaging. While it starts off as guilty pleasure viewing, the seductive topping is used smartly to address realities in modern-day relationships without being preachy. It’s a fine example of how one can grab attention through themes that sell – sex, crime and romance – and still convey something poignant.

Performances by Others Actors

Rajshri Deshpande mirrors the travails of an everyday man trapped in a loveless marriage with adequate sensitivity, and it’s hard not to empathise with her portrayal of Naina. Beneath Taaruk Raina’s vibrant screen presence, one senses a genuine effort to widen his range as an actor with his recent choices. Sheeba Chaddha is in fine form, with Meghna Malik, Priyanka Charan and the rest chipping in well.

Music and Other Departments?

Composer Sagar Desai delivers an efficient score that keeps up with the various dimensions of the story, staying true to its intent. Cinematographer Nigamendra Bomzan’s responsible visual gaze, in a relatively sensitive story, merits praise, capturing the intricacies of its world without aiming to titillate.

The writing (by Amardeep Galsin and Amir Rizvi), in particular, is refreshing, for its effort to mirror modern-day perspectives on desire, love sans judgement. Though the runtime, at around 7 hours, is slightly exhausting, it is used well to establish the many layers of its key characters.

Highlights?

New-age, sensitive writing

Good casting, performances

Entertaining treatment

Drawbacks?

Ends up over-complicating itself in parts

Exhaustive runtime

Slightly eccentric at times

Did I Enjoy It?

Mostly, yes

Will You Recommend It?

If you’re up for an unfiltered look at modern-day relationships.

 Rangeen Web Series Review by M9