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Tabbar Web Series Review: Supriya Pathak, Pavan Malhotra's Crime Drama Blurs The Line Between Good & Evil
Set in rural Punjab, Tabbar, revolves around a middle-class family that stood together and blurred all the lines to protect and support each other after a terrifying incident turned their world upside down.
Available
On:
Sony
LIV
Language:
Hindi
Duration:
8
Episodes/
40
Minutes
Story: Set in rural Punjab, Tabbar, revolves around a middle-class family that stands together through thick and thin. They go beyond good and evil to protect and support each other after a terrifying incident turned their life upside down.
Review: Tabbar is a crime drama that revolves around the Singh family in rural Punjab. The show stays true to its title -Tabbar which means family in Punjabi. The Singh family, like any ordinary middle-class family, has financial issues, relatives to look out for, kids to care of - all of which the family works hard on, in their own way. But their ordinary life takes a turn when a joyous occasion turns into a nightmare within minutes.
We are introduced to all the characters in the first episode, starting with Omkar Singh (Pavan Malhotra) is a retired police constable, who runs a small Kirana Store. He adores his wife Sargun (Supriya Pathak) and takes immense care of her. The couple has two sons - Harpreet aka Happy (Gagan Arora) who is preparing for the IPS in Delhi, and Tegi (Sahil Mehta) who is a college, an aspiring influencer and the root to all of their problems.
Happy returns home from Delhi for a few days, and as the family is celebrating the occasion they are visited by Maheep Sodhi (Rachit Bahal), the brother of local politician Ajeet Singh Sodhi (Ranvir Shorey). Maheep gets into an altercation with the family over a missing package. Unfortunately, it ends with a bullet in Mahdeep's head. The family as a unit struggles to hide the murder and absolve themselves of any responsibility.
However, lies keep piling on and the risk increases, especially since politician Ajeet Singh Sodhi is looking for his bother's killer. As the intensity of the show increases the lines keep blurring between good and evil. Omkar Singh who seems like a righteous man takes law into his own hands to protect his family. In one of the scenes, he tells his wife, Sargun that while he was never able to do anything for his family now he is doing his best to save them all.
The makers have managed to create a very realistic setting for the show, from the lighting, setup, location, the Punjabi dialogues as well as the background score by Sneha Khanwalkar. Nonetheless, the screenplay takes a toll on the show's intensity. For a crime drama with plenty of plot twists, Tabbar lingers far too long on the character's side plots that do not offer any back story or dept. All the characters have a single purpose defined in the first episode and it is blindly followed for the rest of the eight-part series.
Pavan Malhotra as Omkar Singh is easy to watch as the good guy, as well as a devoted father. He shines through with his screen presence during some of the plot twists, despite the rundown dialogues. Supriya Pathak as Sargun mainly plays the role of a nurturing mother but she also ties the dark and gritty show to themes like guilt, and some real consequences. Gagan Arora, previously seen in other OTT shows gets a chance to show his talent with a grey character. While he is just following his father's plan the determination and fight in his mind, keeps him at the forefront of the show's pivotal characters.
Overall, Tabbar has become in its own way India's version of Netflix's You, filled with passion for family, love as well as guilt and retribution driving the characters forward. Still, the slow pace keeps the story from its conclusion several episodes over.
