Neither sensational in style nor radical in approach
Rohit Shetty’s indomitable cops don’t quite wobble, if not landing in the web show’s universe. They are on the hunt for “India’s Most Wanted Terrorist” – a young man who has sinister plans but looks like he will be hard pressed to kill a fly. The resulting thriller is hackneyed and devoid of real heat and dust.
Indian Police Force, An Amazon Original Series is, for all intents and purposes, a slightly altered and toned-down version of that Suryavanshi (2021), which was Shetty’s fourth cop universe movie. If anything is different here, it’s this: the seven-episode series isn’t as intense in tone as the film. It leads a fearless Muslim police officer to wreak havoc across India against a radicalized youth.
The series makes no apparent effort to be a sharp, grainy portrayal of the men and women who make up the overworked security system that fights day in and day out to keep India’s sprawling national capital city safe. It’s so dull and uninspired that it never comes with a realistic chance of rising above the mundane.
Produced and directed by Rohit Shetty with story and screenplay by Sandeep Saket and Anusha Nandakumar, Indian Police Forcee makes the cardinal mistake of chasing surface gloss and routine thrills instead of seeking immersive, hard-hitting realism.
The show is packed with action sequences, shootouts and chases but is unusually short on lightning and a high-pitched blaster associated with the cop universe. This, however, does not necessarily increase authenticity. The simple style of the show prevents it from being the compelling cop drama it could have been.
The main cast members – Siddharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty and Vivek Oberoi – don’t generate any real spark of freshness due to the stale material they’re stuck with. Their swings are laborious and their verbal volleys are empty. Tragedy hits the team at a critical juncture but they continue on, unaware of the dangers they face in the line of duty.
The lead protagonist, Kabir Malik (Malhotra), the first Muslim cop in a universe of Singham, Simba and Suryavanshi – a balancing act in a screenplay that ultimately cannot see beyond convenient and established binaries.
One of Kabir’s key associates, Tara Shetty (Shilpa Shetty), the Gujarat ATS chief, is called to help the special cell of the Delhi Police when a series of explosions rock the city. His superior in the force, Vikram Bakshi (Oberoi), Tara’s academy batchmate, exerts a calming influence when the pressure is on. Also by their side is the irresistible Rana Birk (Nikitin Dhir).
Kabir, it is suggested, is hot-headed and given to breaking protocol even though we never see him fly off the handle in any significant way. However, in the opening moments of the series, he is stuck in the housing department of the police force, a job for which he has no enthusiasm. Itching to return to the field.
When a bomb explodes in another city and intelligence suggests that Goa may be the next target, Kabir discovers that the same man – Zarar (Mayank Tandon) – is behind all the terrorist attacks. He convinces his boss Jaideep Bansal (Mukesh Rishi) to let him handle the case.
The prime suspect has changed his name, married a young student Nafisa (Vaidehi Parasurami) and moved back to Darbhanga in Bihar. But once the operation begins, Zarar and his associates have few places to hide as the police, led by an undercover undercover agent Jagtap (Sharad Kelkar, who makes a late appearance) launch a secret cross-border operation to nab the terrorists.
Kabir Malik’s name, opposite Mumbai Police’s Joint CP Kabir Shroff (Javed Jafri).Aryavanshi, He does not immediately reveal his religious identity. So, when he captures the dreaded terrorists, insisting that their actions are a response to the injustices they and their families have suffered, the fearless officer holds himself up as a true Muslim, brave and just.
There are others. Two terrorist brothers are disowned by their parents. Don’t spare them, their mother tells a police officer. A father of a boy who went astray in a sleeper cell refuses to go on Hajj with the money given by his prodigal son. And a young woman in danger of having her life turned upside down takes a ‘patriotic’ stand for her personal happiness.
Despite the search for balance, the Indian police force adds little (or enhances) to our understanding of how policing really works in a bustling Indian metropolis where many threats require round-the-clock vigilance. on it
The show is a patchwork of clichés, at best an extended cut-and-paste job that evokes elements of the director’s successful big-screen cop procedurals. It does a pale and sterile job of piecing together the stories of men (and one woman) in uniform who put their lives on the line in the service of the nation.
Neither enthusiastic in style nor radical in approach, Indian Police Force It’s just another, completely predictable cat-and-mouse affair that goes through bomb disposals, police raids, gunfights, explosions and flying vehicles. It’s like watching another Rohit Shetty film with a different aspect ratio.
The audience knows from the beginning that it will end with the line “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” Done to death. As a result, the show offers no real bang for the buck.
With the predominance of drone/fly-cam shots that often capture the tourist sights of Delhi and Goa in city skylines, involving police officers in street-level action to tackle serious personal and professional challenges, IIndian Police Force Has the look and feel of a big-screen production incongruously finished on a digital platform.
Instead of providing a broad view of a city on the edge of Delhi crime, Indian Police Force Satisfied with dishing out conventional action blocks and chase sequences.
The greatest quality missing in IIndian Police Force The ball is played on the expected line, the prime video show is dry as dust. This is only for Cop Universe fans. It desperately needs a fresh infusion of inspiration.
