Inside Edge Season 3 Web Series Review: The 'Edge' Is Missing, But Interesting Nevertheless
Web Series
oi-Shweta Parande
By Johnson Thomas
Rating:
3.0/5
Star
Cast:
Vivek
Oberoi,
Richa
Chadha,
Tanuj
Virwani,
Aamir
Bashir,
Sayani
Gupta,
Sapna
Pabbi,
Akshay
Oberoi,
Sidhant
Gupta,
Amit
Sial
Director:
Kanishk
Varma
(with
several
co-directors)
Inside
Edge,
based
on
a
fictional
T20
playing
league
and
cricket
franchise,
was
Amazon
Prime
Video's
first
original
Indian
series
and
started
off
as
a
story
of
the
Mumbai
Mavericks,
playing
in
the
Powerplay
League.
The
first
two
seasons
in
fact
elaborated
on
conflicting
interests
within,
selfishness,
sex,
money,
power
struggles,
etc.
without
holding
back
on
the
rot
within.
As
viewers
we
became
privy
to
the
game
playing
behind
the
sport.
Inside
Edge
Season
3
follows
up
on
that
front.
All
the
murky
hearsay
and
possibilities
are
laid
out
in
full
detail
-
leaving
nothing
to
the
imagination.
And
if
you
are
a
keen
follower
of
cricket
in
India
you
would
know
that
most
of
what
is
fictionalised
and
dramatised
here,
are
as
close
to
the
public
perception
of
the
truth
as
you
could
get.
Review
The
first
season
of
Inside
Edge
was
a
pioneer
of
sorts
-
going
away
from
the
rigorous
pattern
of
in-your-face
crude
language,
glimpses
of
nudity,
sex,
violence
and
crime
that
the
over-the-top
(OTT)
viewer
seems
to
thrive
on.
Mind
you,
it
wasn't
that
these
ingredients
weren't
there
but
they
were
presented
in
a
much
more
palatable,
suave
and
slick
fashion.
Inside
Edge
Season
3,
in
fact,
ups
the
ante
on
that.
Things
go
a
little
haywire
with
revenge,
murder,
scandals
and
so
forth.
The
rivalries
between
former
and
current
captains,
between
two
blood
brothers
from
different
mothers,
unravelling
of
a
betting
scandal,
political
interference
in
the
selection
process,
personal
link-ups
(including
a
gay
angle),
underworld
machinations
and
murkier
behind-the-scenes
jostling
for
the
high
seats
of
power
in
the
cricketing
world.
It's
a
no-holds-barred
war
where
the
winner
is
the
one
with
the
most
clout
and
cunning.
It's
high
on
intrigue
but
also
quite
predictable
in
the
way
it
all
plays
out.
The
tension
holds
true
only
when
cricket
is
played,
the
rest
of
the
time
it's
just
a
whole
lot
of
wheeling
and
dealing
without
much
depth
or
conviction.
Even
the
enquiry
commission
set-up
to
look
into
the
betting
scandal
appears
to
be
a
feint
meant
to
cover
up
the
lack
of
knowledge
or
source
material
needed
for
deeper
insights.
While
the
10-episode
web
series
Inside
Edge
Season
3
plays
out
interestingly
enough,
there
are
not
many
surprises,
mysteries
or
edgy
entertainment
to
be
had.
This
is
a
series
that
understands
its
cricket-loving
audience
and
manages
to
provide
the
right
amount
of
cricketing
action
to
keep
the
overall
interest
from
flagging.
Most
of
the
performances
are
workmanlike,
some
adequate
and
some
totally
off.
Richa
Chaddha's
Zarina
comes
across
as
playing
on
a
tone
lower
than
the
rest
while
Tanuj
Virwani's
Vayu
Raghavan
and
Ankur
Rathee's
Allen
Menezes
veers
towards
the
over-the-top.
Aamir
Bashir
as
Yashardhan
Patil
makes
most
of
his
time
on
screen
count
but
his
role
is
so
half-baked
and
flimsy
that
the
actor
registers
in
your
mind
much
more
than
the
character
he
is
playing.
Vivek
Oberoi
embodies
the
suave
thug
in
slick
fashion.
Akshay
Oberoi
as
unseated
captain
Rohit
Shanbagh
makes
his
presence
count
and
so
do
Sayani
Gupta
as
Rohini,
Sapna
Pabbi
as
Mantra
and
Renuka
Shahane
as
PM
even
though
their
roles
have
them
skimming
through
rather
than
going
in-depth
or
nuanced.
Siddhant
Gupta
is
the
one
to
catch
the
eye
here.
As
Imaad,
the
bowler
who
gets
into
the
team
due
to
political
interference,
his
efforts
to
convince
are
sincere
and
earnest
and
therefore
imminently
likeable.
Technical
Aspects
Technically,
Inside
Edge
Season
3
sticks
to
the
high
standards
set
by
the
earlier
two
seasons.
The
camerawork,
editing
and
production
values
are
fairly
good.
Even
though
Inside
Edge
Season
3
may
not
have
the
edgy
thrills
we
expected,
it
still
manages
to
keep
the
interest
going
for
much
of
its
over-extended
run.