www.WeeklyVoice.com Friday, April 17, 2020 | B-9 The Raikar Case: Soap Opera Suspense “The Raikar Case” (Voot se- times really distracting from the ries); Cast: Atul Kulkarni, Neil intended solemn mood. Bhoopalam, Parul Gulati, Ashwi- That sort of a treatment is also ni Bhave, Kunal Karan Kapoor; palpable in key scenes where the Direction: Aditya Sarpotdar; entire ‘khandaan’ congregates Rating: * * * (three stars) in one expansive room, and the camera does a full pan before set- By Vinayak Chakravorty tling on a particular protagonist, upbeat background music very “The Raikar Case” is a who- much in place. You almost miss dunit that makes its intention the K-soap bahu in such frames. rather clear with the very irst Still, “The Raikar Case” should scene. The young scion of a pow- keep you hooked till the end for erful clan is out to commit sui- two primary reasons. First, it has cide diving off a cliff. The fall is been written cleverly despite its captured with melodramatic rel- melodrama hangover - particu- ish, in slow motion as the camera larly, the way each episode ends augments the impact with a top on an arresting note, tempting the angle shot. viewer to binge onto the next epi- This one, you get the feel- sode. ing right at the onset, will very The other impeccable aspect much be a ‘desi’ mystery - not A scene from ‘The Raikar Case’. is the show’s cast. Atul Kulkarni too heavy, but loaded with the as the patriarchal head Yashwant vintage played-to-gallery burst of made to believe. This, even as his share in their company as well the narrative, as the police get Raikar is lawless, and Ashwini emotions. cousin Etasha (Parul Gulati) is as property. Etasha seems to har- going with their probe of a fresh Bhave returns to mainstream As the seven-episode storyline apparently making a futile, last- bour some sort of a secret guilt suspect in each episode, before fare after a hiatus with de- unfolds, you realise that the hunch ditch effort to stop him. about Tarun’s death. We also get the screenplay sets out to unravel lightful poise. Neil Bhoopalam is not altogether misplaced. Se- The scene has a catch, of to know Tarun had given Etasha the truth. its into his uniformed cop avatar ries director Aditya Sarpotdar course. Things get a dramatic 12 missed calls before it all ended It’s all executed without too with effortlessness. Parul Gulati and his team of writers have ob- soon enough with the entry of for him. many complications, which al- is adequate for most parts, though viously made extra efforts to bal- archetypal ilmi smart cop, John In classic whodunit tradition, lows for an effective tempo even she tends to go over the top in the ance schmaltz with suspense. It is Pereira (Neil Bhoopalam), who every member of the Raikar fam- in the comparatively slower mid- stray moments, almost as if they wanted to make is assigned the case. Pereira takes ily could have a motive to kill dle episodes. Yet, what you don’t “The Raikar Case” should re- a family soap opera that, by the a look at Tarun’s corpse and de- Tarun, it is gradually established. amusingly miss is the way in gale if you are looking for some way, is highlighted by a mysteri- clares this could never be suicide. As the plot pushes forward, a few which the narrative almost unwit- suspense drama that does not sit ous death. It is murder. other skeletons tumble out of tingly lets in the mawkish, soap too stressfully on your senses. Tarun Raikar (Honey Kam- A slew of facts are thrown at the illustrious Raikar closet. The opera elements at the slightest Although nothing out of the box, boj), youngest of the afluentthe viewers in these early scenes. mandatory ingredients of black- chance. It is more than evident in this is binge therapy for the buffs Raikar clan, dives to his death in Tarun, we get to know, would be mail, power politics and genera- the pervading background score who prefer their mysteries not the opening scenes, or so we are the sole inheritor of his father’s tional rifts are liberally used in that runs almost all through -- at served too dark. Neha Sharma Tries T-Shirt Short Film Festival On OTT

MUMBAI: Cine lovers are in for an humans. The ilm stars Anupriya Goenka Challenge, Invites Sister Aisha online short ilm festival soon, which will and . bring stories of myriad hues and emotions. Based in Kolkata, “Seasons Greetings” MUMBAI: Amid self-iso- As part of the festival, nine ilms across di- is about a mother-daughter relationship. It lation in the time of coronavi- verse genres of love, drama, thriller, com- stars Celina Jaitley and Lillette Dubey in rus outbreak, “bored” actress edy, and family drama will be streamed. lead roles. Author-turned-ilmmaker Ram Neha Sharma is trying out the In the festival, one will get to watch ac- Kamal Mukherjee’s Hindi feature ilm is new fad on social media called tors such as Nasseruddin Shah, Vikrany a tribute to late Bengali ilmmaker Ritu- the T-shirt Challenge. Massey, Rhea Chakraborty, Shriya Pilga- parno Ghosh and it touches upon human The challenge involves put- onkar, Rajeev Khandelwal, Sumeet Ragh- emotions, interwoven with social aspects. ting on a T-shirt while doing van, and Hruta Durgule. “How about a kiss?” stars Rajat Kapoor a handstand, and Neha took The Short Film Festival premiere on and Ritabhari Chakraborty. The Satarupa to Instagram to post a video April 15 on the OTT platform ZEE5. Sanyal directorial is about a student who where she can be seen trying “We are looking forward to premiering falls in love with her professor. to do just that. She also invited the Short Film Festival on April 15. Given “Second Hand”, starring Parul Gulati her sister, actress Aisha Shar- the current scenario, the team at ZEE5 is and Abhishek Banerjee, is about marriage, ma, to take up the challenge. pushing boundaries to provide its audience love and cheating. It is directed by Navjot “T-shirt challenge... This with unparalleled entertainment. The nine Gulati. “Svah! So be it” is a family drama one is for you @aishashar- short ilms will also touch upon diverse of a girl wanting to get married but she ma25Since I was very bored conversation topics.” said Aparna Acha- faces the most bizarre hurdle ever. Starring decided I could try this out.. rekar, Programming Head, ZEE5 . Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur and Shilpa I have attempted the T-shirt There will be “Half Full”, which re- Tulaskar, it is a Gauri Daswani directorial. challenge with a ONCE bro- volves around two men having contrast- “Food for Thought”, directed by Tania ken right wrist so excuse my ing attitudes coming from two different Deohans, stars Rashi Mal, Alka Amin and little cheat.. have fun if you worlds, but are headed towards the same Usha Nadkarni. It narrates consequences decide you try it,” wrote Neha, vertex. Vikrant and Naseeruddin will be when a broad minded family meets a con- alongside the video. seen playing lead roles in the Karan Rawal servative family. The lineup also includes: She added: “Be safe.. #stay- directorial. Sonam Nair’s “Boom Noom”, a comedy home #staysafe #quaranti- There is “Heartbeat” directed by Manu ilm starring Rhea Chakraborty and Man- netshirtchallenge #quaranti- Chobe. It revolves around how Saanvi is jot Singh, and “Strawberry Shake”, about nelife.” The video has over 1 set to make the biggest decision of her life, a single father who tells his 19 year old million views on the photo- but not before getting some answers about daughter to treat him as a friend. sharing app. Neha made her Bollywood debut in 2010 with the Emraan Hashmi-starrer “Crook”. She was later seen in ilms like “Teri Meri Kahaani”, “Kyaa SuperKool Hain Hum”, “Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story”, “”, “Youngistaan” and “Tum Bin II”. She will next be seen in ’s “Taish”, a revenge drama. Theilm also stars Jim Sarbh, Amit Sadh, Pulkit Samrat, Aditya Pancholi and Harshvardhan Rane among others. Abhay Deol Recalls His Days In New York Mumbai: At a time when New York is reeling under the onslaught of the ongo- ing COVID-19 pandemic, actor Abhay Deol fondly looked back at his happy days of the past in that city, away from all the attention. “My friend sent me these pics from when I lived in NYC 11 years ago! I have no pictures of my own from that time. Brought back memories. What a time that was, running as far away as I could from the atten- tion I was getting. Age has deinitely helped me ac- cept many a thing stardom brings with it,” he wrote on Instagram on Saturday. In 2009, the “Dev.D” ac- tor moved to New York where he reportedly took up welding and metal work course. “I chose New York as my second home because it’s a city that has always fascinated me. It’s such a hub of activity. The creative possibilities here are unlimited. I want to grow not just as an actor but also as a human being,” he had said.