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Tandav Web Series Review: Saif Ali Khan And Dimple Kapadia's Prowess Is Missing From This Political Drama
Tandav starring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, and others promised more than the characters could chew on.
Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Duration: 9 Episodes / 40 Minutes
Language: Hindi
Story: Tandav takes place in a fictional capital city of the world's largest democracy Dilli. It explores the chaos, hunger for power and manipulation that takes place behind closed doors. The show uncovers the darkest lanes of Indian politics.
Review: Tandav starring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, and others promised more than the characters could chew on. The show attempts to talk about big political themes but is reserved to college romance, extramarital affairs and household drama.
Saif Ali Khan plays the lead role, Samar Pratap Singh aka the son of a two-term Prime Minister Devki Nandan. The show starts with PM Devki Nandan on the verge of claiming his third victory in the General Elections, while the father-son duo have their inhouse turf war for power going on. Samar who believes it is his voice that brings power to the party, wants to become the Prime Minister but has been denied the Gaddi (or Kursi) for years. He finally makes a plan to get what he deserved all along.
Tandav Is Created And Directed By Ali Abbas Zafar
The story there on attempts to surprise fans with several twists and turns. Alongside the fight for the country's Gaddi and the inhouse struggle for power, we also get to see some college-level politics. However, the two plots have so much going on individually, that the dots connecting them to each other are almost invisible. Adding to the confusion is the screenplay jumping between being a drama, thriller and a political satire.
We have characters similar to what we have in real life including names like VNU, events like farmers' protests, tactics like media manipulation, and system corruption. However, despite the use of strong themes, promising storyline and a talented cast, Tandav ends up reducing them to mere show of power. The dramatization of each scene only makes it easier to point out the flaws.
Tandav Is Currently Streaming On Amazon Prime Video
The Amazon Prime Video original created by Ali Abbas Zafar also resorts to explaining every bit of the twist and turn in the story. At one point, Saif explains how he killed his father seconds after we saw him do it. The same scene is repeated about seven times in the nine-part series, as if the audience couldn't be trusted to remember it.
There is nothing subtle about Saif Ali Khan as Samar Pratap Singh either. From throwing a fit in his room like a child to cheating on his wife with another party member, Samar does it all. He is supposed to be charming and the smartest one in the room, but within ten minutes he announces his plan to kill his father meters away from his office. On the other hand, Dimple Kapadia and Sunil Grover try to bring their A-game, but the wafer-thin script and cheesy dialogues fail them.
The Makers Are Working On Script For Tandav 2
Sunil who looks intimidating enough from scene one, unfortunately, is given a loud heft laugh which strips him of his seriousness. There are several long and unnecessary scenes, cuts and angles throughout the show, as if to just increase the show's run time. But it ends up feeling slow and repetitive.
Overall, Tandav begins with hope for a complex political thriller with a promise to blow your mind away, but it fails to take itself, and its audience seriously. At the end of season one, the makes have left many questions unanswered, hopefully, they will be explored in season two.
