BOTTOM LINE
Weak Execution Lets Down Story
PLATFORM
ZEE5
RUNTIME
4Hrs – (8 Episodes)
What Is the Show Crime Beat About?
Budding journo Abhishek Sinha’s life takes a new turn when he joins the Express, working under his idol, Amir Akhtar. He falls for colleague Maya and encounters a colourful mix of characters, from the cop Uday to the corrupt politician Rawat to the exiled gangster Binny Chaudhary. He uncovers a major scam to carve his niche in Delhi’s cutthroat world, where corruption reigns supreme.
Performances
It has become a cliche to tell that Saqib Saleem is underrated – but boy, he laps onto the opportunity of playing an underdog journalist and tackles it with a joie de vivre that’s hard to miss. Saba Azad has decent screen space, though it doesn’t really translate into a meaty role. Danish Hussain, in the shoes of an insecure boss, essays his part with an earthiness and vulnerability that makes it relatable.
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The talented Sai Tamhankar is wasted in a sloppy role devoid of any nuance. Rahul Bhat makes a valiant effort to add some meaning to an under-developed character. Rajesh Tailang and Adinath Kothare’s verbal duels are a delight to watch (even though sparks are intermittent). Vipin Sharma has a ball playing a corrupt bureaucrat while Bhuvan Arora doesn’t have great scope to shine.
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Analysis
There’s always a degree of comfort while telling stories from the past (even if they’re fictional) – it offers the creators and the viewers the cushion of looking at a specific incident from a distance and putting present-day issues on the back burner, at least momentarily. Crime Beat, an adaptation of Somnath Batabyal’s critically acclaimed novel The Price You Pay, provides you with that satisfaction.
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While an upcoming crime journalist Abhishek may be the protagonist of the tale, there are no heroes in the story revolving around the infamous Commonwealth Games scam. It acknowledges there are grey areas in everyone, across every sector – media, industrialists, cops, politicians – even though the focus may be on a criminal who could reveal uncomfortable truths about those in power.
Multiple threads in the story win your attention – capturing the internal politics within a corrupt police force (their nexus with politicians, businessmen and criminals), insecurities that limit the growth of Abhishek Sinha’s career in the media and gangster Binny Chaudhary’s last-ditch effort at damage control and to guard his life (which alters power dynamics within Delhi).
Crime Beat adopts an unusually playful tone to tackle a solid crime saga – which provides a spunky exterior to the proceedings but never lets a viewer grasp the depth of the material. Abhishek is caught between love and career, the cops are lost in their internal chaos and Binny does everything to divert the attention away from his arrest – and despite all the action, something is amiss in the show.
Though the creators attempt to expose the pervasive corruption that engulfs various sectors of society, including those often considered pillars of democracy, the show lacks proper focus and doesn’t deal with any of its subplots with conviction. Everything about it is too superficial – at least, going by the standards that its showrunner Sudhir Mishra has set in the past while discussing politics.
Channelling its energy towards the larger purpose, it loses out on nuance. While the portrayal of media is sensational/inaccurate, its power hierarchy is explored effectively. In the cops-bureaucrat-gangster nexus, there are potentially impactful threads of the humane angle to a criminal, a parent trying to avenge a child’s death, an officer trying to clear the air about his father’s past – none of them gets the treatment they deserve.
The ending – where a rookie Hindi journalist taps into the inner workings of a scam that has gripped the nation and rises in stature – is partially satisfying. Crime Beat could’ve been a fun crime story wrapped in an entertaining exterior or a serious crime thriller with a few lighter moments – it is unsure about its choices and hence, all over the place.
Watch the show only if you can appreciate its good story and tolerate the inconsistent execution.
Music and Other Departments?
Joel Crasto brings a necessary urgency to the story with his music score, while adapting to the treatment of the contrasting subplots. After the critical praise for IC814: The Kandahar Hijack and Mai, Ravikiran Ayyagari’s rustic visual texture complements this show too. The production design adds classiness to the setup. From a writing/execution perspective, the narrative is too chaotic.
Highlights?
Apt casting
Decent performances
Good story
Drawbacks?
Lacks focus, strong detailing
Characters lack depth
Simplistic execution
Did I Enjoy It?
Only in parts
Will You Recommend It?
If you’re in the mood for an okayish crime saga, go for it
Crime Beat Web Series Review by M9
