Mistry Review: Light-Hearted, Forgettable Watch

Mistry Review: In this Hotstar Special series, ex-cop Armaan Mistry helps the Mumbai police department solve cases that others cannot. In the midst of this, he tries to solve the only unsolved case in his career – the murder of his beloved wife.

The series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes, and is based on the American crime-comedy series Monk.

Mistry Review

Mistry follows Armaan Mistry, a sharp ex-policeman grieving the death of his wife, but not letting it come in between his work. However, he suffers from crippling OCD that makes others wary of him and his “odd” behaviours. The series is a “case of the week” type of show wherein Armaan solves different cases in different episodes, while there’s a singular case that he solves over the period of said episodes.

The series is by no means anything different. Adapted from the 2002-2009 series Monk, the storyline has become rather repetitive, 16 years after the end of the legendary American series. We have seen many shows following the same formula, some more serious, some less, and at this point, it has probably reached its saturation point.

The problem with Mistry is not that it’s not entertaining, because it is. The series is light-hearted, fun and cosy and although nothing new or memorable, it is a good timepass watch. However, that’s about it. The cases are juvenile and simple, and although it would’ve shocked you a few years ago, in 2025, this just doesn’t make you feel invested.

I also found myself questioning Armaan’s character because the way his mental health struggles are shown is almost caricature-like. You question why Armaan behaves like this and whether there’s more to the story than we are shown. Ram Kapoor is fine, great even, but Armaan doesn’t feel like a real person, nor do these feel like real situations. It’s like there’s a filter on the show of the idea Mumbai with some nasty crimes that get solved at the blink of an eye. But let’s be real, that’s definitely not happening in reality.

And that’s fine. It’s not necessary to put forth a hyper-realistic showcase all the time, but the series seems to have put rose-tinted glasses on itself, creating a show that seems too good to be true. Susmita’s murder case is the darker side of the series, which is left on a cliffhanger after 8 episodes. It tries to be complicated, but I can already somewhat predict where this is going. It’s also not interesting enough because the series doesn’t balance its different elements well enough for you to truly give a crap.

Final Thoughts

There’s not a lot to talk about with Mistry because a lot doesn’t really happen. Everything is solved easily, and things happen casually without too much fuss. Armaan just looks around a room and solves the “hardest” of cases. I don’t buy it, and that’s probably where this series falters. However, it’s light-hearted fun for everyone who needs something engaging without the strings, which this one delivers quite well.

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