SonyLIV’s Kathmandu Connection Review: Lacks Thrill

Director Sachin Pathak’s new web series Kathmandu Connection released on SonyLIV on Friday. The show stars Amit Sial, Aksha Pardasany, Anshuman Pushkar, Zakir Hussain, Vikram Singh Sodha and Gopal Datt. Siddharth Mishra has written the story, and the series has a total of 6 episodes. Read our review to know what’s it about and if it’s worth watching or not.

The 1993 Bombay blasts are etched in every citizen’s minds. People had dealt with lots of pain, loss and trauma for years after the incident. In Kathmandu Connection, writer Siddharth Mishra tells us what happened before the blasts and their impact after the black day.

Here’s the gist of what Kathmandu Connection is about – In 1990 New Delhi, DCP Samarth Kaushik (Amit Sial) and his team shoot two suspected terrorists. It helps Samarth receive a promotion and lots of praises from the media and his team. The timeline then shifts to 1993, where the investigations for Bombay blasts are going on.

Sadly, the investigating officer of the 1993 blasts gets murdered. On the other hand, TV journalist Shivani Bhatnagar (Aksha Pardasany) gets stalked by a stranger who keeps calling her at her workplace and home. When she seeks help from Samarth, he finds a connection between everything. However, the path to getting the answer is tricky.

In Bollywood movies and also in several TV/web shows, we have seen the cop-gangster drama. For some time, Kathmandu Connection writer Siddharth Mishra tries to keep us engaged with the several twists and wicked characters. But it goes the similar lane, such as the cop having marital problems and appearing shady despite saving lives. The romance also falls flat and adds nothing to the story.

The way Kathmandu Connection holds your attention, you wait for something impactful to happen. But there’s only a little. Some twists do give you a bit of satisfaction. But when we watch a crime thriller, we expect to be flabbergasted.

Talking about the performance, Amit Sial gives a phenomenal performance as Samarth Kaushik. Sial managed to bring enough stoic and secretive side to his character and made Samarth interesting on screen. Actors Aksha Pardasany, Anshuman Pushkar, Vikram Singh Sodha and Gopal Datt play their parts well. I wish there were more to the character Zakir Hussain played. Despite being important to the story, the rushed writing for his character Mirza makes it easily forgetful.

Kathmandu Connection: Is it worth it?

Overall, Kathmandu Connection fails to impress you. The inconsistency in its writing and the overdone formula of a cop-gangster story takes away its essence. Despite being set in a backdrop that has the potential to tell many stories, this one is not binge-worthy. Just a few surprises and good performance is what it delivers. You can skip it if you have high expectations as the series lacks the thrill and you feel disconnected from the story.

Kathmandu Connection is currently streaming on SonyLiv.

If you are wondering what to watch this weekend, you can check out the reviews of our other shows and movies here.