Bambai Meri Jaan Review: The Amazon Prime Video series stars Kay Kay Menon as Ismail Kadri, Avinash Tiwary as Dara Kadri, Saurabh Sachdeva as Haji Maqbool, Nawab Shah as Azeem Pathan, Kritika Kamra as Habiba Kadri, Nivedita Bhattacharya as Sakina Kadri, Jitin Gulati as Saadiq Kadri, Amyra Dastur as Pari, Vivan Bhatena as Abdulla, and others. The story is by Hussain Zaidi, and the series is written by Sameera Arora, Chaitanya Chopra, Renzil D’Silva, and Abbas Dalal (dialogues), Shujaat Saudagar has directed the crime series that has 10 episodes.
Prime Video’s Bambai Meri Jaan Review Contains No Spoilers
Plot Summary
Bambai Meri Jaan is about the rise of crime and gang wars in the 1970s. Ismail Kadri, an honest police officer, wants to bring down criminals like Haji Maqbool and Azeem Pathan. However, Ismail is faced with a lot of challenges, and he loses his job. If that wasn’t enough, Ismail has to see his children, especially Dara Kadri, become the kind of person he always hated. As Dara embraces a morally corrupt path with every passing day, Ismail’s faith in good and himself crumbles.
Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Discussion
Movies and shows about Mumbai (formerly Bombay) are always fascinating to watch. The city has been through so much, and yet it stands still. Some see it as a city of dreams, while others see it as their mashuka (lover). They desire to rule and control it. However, whenever someone has attempted to own the city, they’ve mostly done it through nefarious ways.
While it is not confirmed officially, reports state that the show is based on Hussain Zaidi’s book, Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia. During my college days, it was one of the best books I’d read. So I had an interest and good expectations from the series. However, the characters are given different names. But anyone familiar with the gangster sagas can figure out who’s playing whom.
In the first three episodes of Bambai Meri Jaan on Prime Video, we first see Haji Maqbool and Azeem Pathan expanding their criminal activities within the city and eliminating anyone that comes their way. Ismail Kadri, a fearless cop, doesn’t get influenced by their power and money and wants to stop them. However, a family member’s involvement changes everything for Ismail, whose loyalty gets questioned as he gets fired. The series mostly follows these personal miseries to instil major turning points.
Dara Kadri’s angst and rage stem from seeing how his family and dad were treated. From episode 4, the narrative shifts mostly towards Dara, and Ismail becomes a spectator of everything wrong happening around him. After the time leap, Dara (played by Avinash Tiwary) is introduced as a small-time thug who wants to get control over his area. When things go out of hand, Dara burns down an Akhada, thus getting the attention of Haji and Pathan.
With Haji, Pathan, and Dara, amongst others, the bad men are rising, but hardly anyone can stop this growing black shadow on Bombay. Along with the ambition to be the King and bigger than everyone, Dara’s immoral side is fuelled by personal losses and tragedies. His desire to dominate makes him street-smart and quick with his actions, and his misfortunes make him barbaric and bloodthirsty.
Kay Kay Menon narrates the series as Ismail Kadri, which works very well for us to connect with his character. There’s an honesty and helplessness in his voice. Director Shujaat Saudagar rightly uses all the standard elements that make gangster dramas what they are. There is violence, bloodshed, gang wars, clashes and lots of misconduct. There are also a LOT of cuss words. The familiar concept is executed well because it emphasises how it affects every individual more than just highlighting the criminal world.
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The music plays a great supporting character, keeping us hooked on what’s happening on screen. The title track is catchy, and you don’t want to skip it. The BGM is trippy and heightens the intensity of certain scenes. The dialogues are also well-written, especially the ones said by Dara and Ismail.
However, Episodes 7 and 8 have a lot of gang war sequences that derail the gripping narration. Another issue I had was the heroic treatment given to Dara Kadri. Characters like Haji, Pathan, and Mudaliar are shown as nasty people, as they rightly are. But Dara’s behaviour gets glorified at times with the way certain scenes play out. No matter the circumstances and mishaps, Dara, who is based on Dawood Ibrahim, was also another gangster.
Avinash Tiwary gives a stellar performance as Dara Kadri, a man who becomes malicious by choice and circumstances. The actor aptly brings the notoriety to his character in the beginning. As Dara becomes a mafia gang leader by firmly clutching to the bad side, Avinash adds more roguery and cruelty to his performance. Kay Kay Menon is the soul of the series as his character Ismail Kadri endures and witnesses so much in those 10 episodes. Kay Kay delivers brilliantly as an actor and narrator of the tale.
Kritika Kamra plays Dara’s sister, Habiba, who is also crooked like him. Kritika gives a good performance. However, sometimes, the actor goes overboard with her accent that sounds inauthentic. Saurabh Sachdeva gets your attention as Haji Maqbool and owns the scenes he’s in. With his striking and strong body language, Saurabh makes Haji look menacing at first glance itself. Actors Nivedita Bhattacharya, Amyra Dastur, Jitin Gulati, Nawab Shah, Manthan Darji, and Vivan Bhatena are impressive throughout.
Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, if Mumbai city and its history and relationship with the gangster world interest you, Bambai Meri Jaan should be on your watchlist. The approach to storytelling is predominantly character-driven. The power-packed performances make it a compelling watch despite a few flaws.
The series is now streaming on Prime Video India.
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