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OK Computer Web Series Review: The Crowded Plot Fails Radhika Apte & Vijay Varma
OK Computer follows ACP Sajaan as he investigates the death of an unidentified human, while the suspects are machines. Soon after Sajaan tracks down the culprit who is Robonoid, a robot with human emotions.
Available
On:
Disney
Plus
Hotstar
VIP
Duration:
6
episodes
/
40
minutes
Language:
Hindi
(Dubbed
Versions
Available
In
6
Languages)
Story: OK Computer follows ACP Sajaan as he investigates the death of an unidentified human while the suspects are machines. Soon after, Sajaan tracks down the culprit who is a Robonoid, a robot with human emotions.
Review: The futuristic story set in 2031 is filled with two kinds of humans, ones that belive robots are the future and others that believe robots will be the death of humankind. While the world is divided, life moves on, corporations take advantage of error-free labour and services are all sold by the robots to humans.
The premise seems dark but the story never takes itself seriously, even in the face of literal death. The entire cast of the show calls the dead body with a squashed brain as Pav Bhaji. Meanwhile, ACP Sajaan Kundu (Vijay Varma) set out to investigate a murder by a machine, is hell-bent on proving machines are bad because his parents lost their jobs to robots.
Sajaan's parents who were one of the biggest DJs in the early 2000s lost their jobs because machines started making music. But it wasn't just his parents, lakhs of other DJs also lost their jobs as reminded by his old partner and now archnemesis Laxmi Suri (Radhika Apte).
In the first episode, ACP Sajaan Kundu and Laxmi Suri investigate the crime scene after an anonymous pedestrian is fatally run over by a self-driving car. After reading the car's directed route, he quickly comes to the conclusion that the car was hacked and the man was killed. Meanwhile, Suri is convinced that robots cannot kill humans unless it is fooled into doing so, by another human. On tracking the self-driven car's details, the two begin a chase to the main hacker only to find out that a Robonoid is behind it all.
The six-part show has a lot to uncover in 40-minute episodes, in terms of social commentary for its dystopian, futuristic sci-fi theme. The story also talks about what makes us humans and what gives us the right to overpower other species on our planet. However, amid the grand scheme of self-awareness, the characters and their motivations are lost to our mere human eyes.
All characters from the good guys, the grey guys and no bad guys, all seem two dimensional who take themselves very seriously. Even at the show's climax and heartbreaking scenes, it is hard to take them seriously. On the other hand, the whodunit plot of the show that calls for more urgency and seriousness is overcrowded with twists and background score which can be mind-numbing.
One of the best parts of the show are two supporting characters, Monalisa Paul (Kani Kusruti) and Trisha Singh (Ratnabali Bhattacharjee). Both have little screen time but make up with a strong presence despite their characters having no personal motives. With a tighter screenplay, the show would be just as enjoyable as any well done dark comedy.
Overall, OK Computer is borderline an experiment that may or may not work out for everyone. However, it can be enjoyed by people who are into indie films and are ready to explore newer story settings.
