Kaala Paani Review (2023): Grounded Dark Realities Come Alive With a Well-Rounded Cast Fighting for Survival

Kaala Paani Review: Created and co-directed by Sameer Saxena of TVF and Amit Golani, the Hindi thriller drama series (title read “Dark Water” in English, has been presented by Posham Pa Pictures, with screenplay by Biswapati Sarkar, Amit Golani, Sandeep Saket and Nimisha Misra. Marking Ashutosh Gowariker’s acting comeback as Lieutenant Admiral Zibran Qadri, the 7-part show also stars Mona Singh, Amey Wagh, Sukant Goel, Vikas Kumar, Radhika Mehrotra, Chinmay Mandlekar, Arushi Sharma, Poornima Indrajith and others.

Touted as “first of its kind survival drama”, Kaala Paani (2023) is a compelling, emotional and haunting watch that is also the first series to have been shot from start to end at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Kaala Paani Netflix Review Contains No Spoilers

Kaala Paani (2023) Review

Hinging on issues of survival, adaptability and evolution, the latest Hindi Netflix series pens down a saga with several characters’ lives converging into the other, in turn raising very existential questions about human nature and the constant change it undergoes. At the heart of the Andaman of Nicobar Islands, a life-threatening twist emerges in the form of a mysterious illness that is brushed off by higher authorities, with the exception of Dr Soudamini (Mona Singh) being the only one considerate enough to go to the bottom of the case.

When others finally realise the true deadly extent of the disease, it’s too late, and the islands are cut off from the mainland to fend for themselves, with the people inside trapped behind the unclimbable walls of water.

Kaala Paani episode 1 itself makes for a bang-on premiere. It introduces us to a great number of characters, and despite that heavy move being made right at the beginning, the execution is carried out so seamlessly that the thought of these many people cluttering the storyline doesn’t even cross our mind. With each of their stories running parallel to the other, the rest of the episodes are well-paced enough to finally converge their narratives without making a hassle out of it. The heavy concept introduced through the series is enough to shake us up again, especially after having been subjected to a real pandemic in recent memory.

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In that sense, the series starkly reminds us that at the time of such a race for survival, regardless of what kind of self-centred acts may be executed in the process, all hope isn’t completely lost in humanity and even in general. Plus, the first episode paints some characters in a certain way, and regardless of what kind of graph (in terms of characterisation) they chart out, whether it goes up or down, we get to see them all embark on a humane path. It’s a treat to see the way these characters are developed over the subsequent episodes, especially since they’re all fleshed out as multifaceted people.

The entire series’ journey is quite like that of a rollercoaster, and it hits you hard. With an exceptional screenplay, the show constantly reminds us of the walls closing in, further exacerbating the essence of the place itself as a prison. Moreover, much like how the makers asserted in an interview that the location birthed the series’ concept and storyline, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are portrayed in a completely new light, especially with the place itself taking shape as one of the elusive characters of the show.

Mostly looked up to as the ideally perfect and beautiful tourist spot, these islands aren’t merely painted as an aesthetic afterthought; rather, the series dares to question the darkness that resides within people through the various allusions to the place’s historical relevance and topographical setting as well.

The show’s title itself refers to the Cellular Jail of Port Blair set up during the British colonial era, thus highlighting the profound meaning of being caged in by water on all sides of the island and the entirety of the location acting as an extended prison. On top of that, each episode title makes relations to the story that goes beyond the mere first meaning that comes to our head; the show’s progression bleeds out as a heavy piece of literature worth watching till the end.

Each episode is as strong as the previous, and they all have the potency to break you emotionally, which is a good thing because, in an age where OTT has been cluttered with a bag full of mediocre titles releasing each week, Kaala Paani dares to shine as its own and doesn’t solely rely on the presence of an ensemble cast, but rather weaves captivating characters out of their contributions. Although each one of them deserves to be applauded for what they’ve accomplished, Amey Wagh’s Ketan Kamat was an especially despicably eccentric character, and Wagh did a memorable job of working hard to make us hate him.

Be it through riddles or metaphors, the series works its grounded charm on several levels – personal, historical, social, political and cultural. And through the existential crossroads pit in each character’s life, they’re all made to undergo change. While some are changing for the worse, others have been changed because of the worse.

Kaala Paani Review: Final Thoughts

While I agree that watching this series in a single sitting may be too much for some owing to the emotional baggage, I still very much recommend this to everyone. For the first time in a long time, I’ve finally found a series that I can hope to revisit more than once and come up with a new and graver understanding of the subject matter each time I watch it – a lot like literature itself.

Kaala Paani is now streaming on Netflix.

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