The Great Indian Murder, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia based on Vikas Swarup’s novel ‘Six Suspects’ is now out. Tigmanshu wrote the screenplay with Vijay Maurya and Puneet Sharma. The show stars Richa Chadha as cop Sudha Bharadwaj, Pratik Gandhi as CBI officer Suraj Yadav, Ashutosh Rana as Jagganath Rai, Raghuvir Yadav as Mohan Kumar, Sharib Hashmi as Ashok Rajput, Paoli Dam as Shabnam Saxena, Shashank Arora as Munna, Amey Wagh as Arun Deshmukh, Jatin Goswami as Vicky Rai, Rucha Inamdar as Ritu Rai, Ronjini Chakraborty as Champi, and several others.
The show is produced by Ajay Devgn and Priti Vinay Sinha and has 9 episodes. The synopsis reads, “When notorious industrialist Vicky Rai is shot dead at his own party, the main suspects are the guests, both invited and uninvited.”
Hotstar Specials The Great Indian Murder Review Contains No Spoilers
The story covers multiple places – Chattisgarh, Andaman, Delhi, etc. Vicky Rai, a spoiled, bratty, notorious businessman and son of politician Raghubir Rai is shot dead at his own party. Rai has given a hard time to many people and has recently been released from prison for a heinous crime. So it’s obvious that a sickening man like him has enough enemies. But who was that one enemy disguised as a friend who shot him dead at the party?
Every episode of Hotstar’s The Great Indian Murder is shown as a chapter about one or two persons. In the first chapter, we learn about Vicky Rai. In just a few minutes, you dislike Vicky because of his obnoxious behaviour and disrespectful treatment towards women. In the next chapter, Tigmanshu shows us how opposite his father is. Raghubir Rai is a man of few words but knows how to do his work done. From episode 3, the narrative shifts from the Rais to telling us stories/backgrounds about the suspects.
Every suspect had some intention to attend Vicky Rai’s party. But was it to kill him or not is something we need to have enough patience to find out. But more patience is required to go through episodes 3 and 4. These 2 episodes show us everything about 2 suspects who aren’t linked yet indirectly connected. Both the episodes are far-stretched and divert you from what you’ve been looking for. By the end of episode 4, one almost forgets that this entire drama is about Vicky Rai’s murder. The plot is all over the place here.
Thankfully from episode 5, the series gains its momentum. Even though these chapters are about suspects, they’re tightly and interestingly written compared to episodes 3 and 4. One episode is based on Mohan Kumar, and that’s one of my favourites. It was amusing to see how ridiculous the character is. Just like the first two episodes, the last 3 episodes are great, and you are anxious until you get, if not all, at least some answers.
Now coming to characters, The Great Indian Murder shows that no person is black and white. Every character has various shades of grey. The death of Vicky Rai is a blessing in disguise because he was a horrible human being to all, including his sister. But when personal and political motives come in, one wouldn’t care if what they seek is the truth or not. Vikas wrote the characters originally in his book. But in the show, the credit goes to Tigmanshu Dhulia for taking his time to give us a deep insight into every character. It helps us in understanding their wrong actions later.
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Disney+ Hotstar’s The Great Indian Murder leaves you guessing as to who and why killed Vicky. While the whodunnit question will take some time to answer, the twists will astound you. What’s impressive about the style of narration is the secrets are not always out at the end of the episode. The twists are mostly unfolded halfway into the episode, and we’re taken back to where it started. Yet, in the end, there’s another twist waiting for us. It really helps make a person stick through to the end to find answers.
Jatin Goswami as Vicky Rai is outstanding and really makes you hate his character. Even though he had an entire episode on him, I wanted to see more of Vicky’s brattiness. Actor Ashutosh Rana is a man with many shades as politician Jagganath Rai and has done a phenomenal job. He holds a calm and composed demeanour. But deep down, one can never guess what he’s thinking. Raghuvir Yadav leaves you chuckled with his character Mohan Kumar. His character is so hilarious that you just can’t take anything Mohan says seriously. The actor has given enough time to shine on screen.
Actors Pratik Gandhi, Richa Chadha, Shashank Arora, Amey Wagh, and Mani also play their parts well.
The Great Indian Murder Review: Final Thoughts
The Great Indian Murder on Disney+ Hotstar is a binge-worthy murder mystery thriller. It is packed with great tensions and many twists. It gets a bit slow in the middle. But once it picks up the pace, you’ll keep clicking on the next episode. The music could’ve been better or avoided as it doesn’t add much to the story. The performances and writing are enough to keep us intrigued.
PS. There are a LOT of cuss words in the show. So headphones are a must.
The show is streaming on Hotstar.
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