The series is both interesting and exciting
Debutant director Jai Mehta’s high seas thriller robbers Driven by greed, ambition and pressure, men rely on defensive and/or hateful actions. Set in an African nation whose people are all at sea, and not just in a metaphorical sense, the eight-episode series is chock full of action.
The fast-paced Disney+Hotstar series will drop weekly every Thursday for a month and a half after its initial release of two episodes.
The action unfolds in a country on the brink of a civil war, a place where danger abounds. Its pulsating rhythm robbers Accented by Achint Thakkar’s propulsive background score and a soulful theme track.
With Hansal Mehta serving as the showrunner, the series is expected to be in the inspired-by-true-events zone. The stamp of a seasoned filmmaker robbers It is clear that he is Shailesh R. Singh brings his proven knack for believable drama to the series produced by Singh.
Despite its crime drama moorings – robbers Uncharted territory for Mehta, both in terms of location and genre – the show is not a conventional blurb. It explores the liminal side of shipping in a world overrun by dangerous, self-serving men out to kill.
Off the coast of Somalia, a group of pirates takes control of a ship carrying a contraband shipment linked to the problem-torn country’s increasingly volatile politics. In a universe where anything goes, the titular pirates are no worse than the men seeking to salvage a captured ship and its precious cargo.
Between the company that owns the ship, the man who ordered the cargo, the outfit that was destined for shipment, the crew caught in the crossfire and the constant threat of violence and pirates determined to extract their pound of flesh, they fight an intense and bloody battle. robbersAn action drama that gets increasingly gory as the stakes rise.
The men involved in the conflict are deadly and double-edged. Betrayal and backstabbing are easy for them. Story by Anshuman Sinha and Vishal Kapoor and Suparna S. Verma’s script incorporates the personal and emotional into the wide, wild world that the show is about.
A woman losing patience with a husband who has little time for her family, a mother grieving for a missing son, an unscrupulous migrant-trader dealing with hostility from the locals, boys and men forced into piracy and debauchery out of secrecy are problematic. Alliances have been formed for the purpose of fishing in the water.
The director makes the most of a mix of Indian and African actors. robbers First Indian web show filmed on the African continent. The location lends it a distinct color and texture. South Africa stands for Mogadishu and a few small Somali towns.
To capture a range of places – jetties, seas, bridges, ship decks and cabins, roads running through towns and villages, bungalows and hovels – photographer Jal Kawasji uses dramatic lighting and angles that heighten tension and uneasiness in the darkness that envelops the landscape.
Missions to save the ship and its cargo and rescue the crew are core to the series. A country’s port authorities, a freighter and an Indian family face serious turmoil as pirates (a pair of siblings, one a commander, the other a rank rookie) dig in their heels and demand a hefty ransom.
At the center of the plot is an unscrupulous Indian businessman who struggles with a lucrative business and rivals out to eliminate him. He wants to be president of Mogadishu Port Authority again. Well trained forces are bound to stop him.
Vikrant Gandhi (Vivek Gombar, who leads the coalition with gusto), raised in Somalia and married to Avika (a formidable Amrita Khanvilkar), the man from whom he inherited the business, is in no mood to concede any ground to his rivals. But will the men he counts as friends in need – Taufiq (Chris Goxalaba), Gupta (Chirag Vohra) and Bilal (Gaurab Sharma) – stand by him in the gathering storm?
Vikrant lives with Avika and their son Aryaman (Varin Rupani). His plan was thrown off course when Somali pirates attacked a Ukrainian ship owned by a Kiev-based company. The firm’s managing director, feminist and smart Ajay Kotwal (Chandan Roy Sanyal), is Vikrant’s longtime associate.
Vikrant has reason to prevent the ship from reaching Mogadishu. To save Chalan, he turns to Bilal for help. The latter released the pirates. The ship’s crew, led by Captain AK Singh (Rajat Kapoor), is pushed against the wall. They struggle to keep their wits about them and the warring pirates.
The pirates are commanded by Karim Barkhad (Marshall Bachmann), whose pacifist ways are tempered by a hot-headed gang member, Kumbe (Athenkosi Mphamela), who tends to fly off the handle. When the Indian embassy in Kenya learns of the standoff, the ambassador (Anant Mahadevan) ropes in undercover agent Ghulam Waris (Aamir Ali). The latter granted immunity to Vikrant in exchange for his assistance in rescuing the ship’s crew.
Women in a man’s world are forever at odds with ongoing events. Ayesha (Preetika Chawla), a woman who doesn’t take anything lying down, is tough in 13 deck hands. He fights shoulder to shoulder with his comrades.
Another woman, the pregnant wife of one of the crew members, Gulrej Singh (Naresh Mallick) is also on board. When the pirates struck, the two women on board went into hiding.
Back in Mogadishu, Vikrant’s wife Avika fights a war of her own. A policeman, he travels to a part of Somalia that is considered unsafe for women. Where in the world is safe for women, Avika asks the inspector when the latter tries to dissuade her from traveling.
Avika’s mission is to find the missing son of her maid Jamila (Mamelo Makhetha). Her self-obsessed husband doesn’t so much as lift a finger to help his distraught mother until his own marriage is in danger of falling apart.
The marital drama strand, bolstered by powerful performances by Gombar and Khanvilkar, adds emotional depth to the plot. The rest of the show is all about men gunning for each other.
Rajat Kapoor is perfect as a captain who stands his ground against all odds. Preetika Chawla, Harry Parmer and Gaurav Paswala, playing crew members, deliver goods. Among the Cape Town-based cast, three stand out – Marshall Bachmain as the pirate commander, Athenkosi Mphamela as a rebel gang member and Chris Goxalaba as Tawfik, the man who turns to Vikrant Gandhi when his port presidency is threatened.
With its impeccable production value and high dramatic traction, robbers A show that is both interesting and enjoyable.
