Pataal Lok - the Matryoshka dolls where each has a different story to tell !

Remember opening up the Matryoshka doll ensemble and discovering smaller and smaller versions inside? How delightful? What if the dolls inside were different and each one could sing and dance its own story as you unravel them one by one?

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch #Paatallok now streaming on #Amazon prime that has been buzzing on the OTT circuit ever since the release of the trailer. Created by Sudip Sharma (Players, NH10 and Udta Punjab) and produced by Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate films, Pataal Lok tells the story of the three societies that are nestled within each other – the Swarg lok for the privileged and represented by Sanjeev Mehra the media face, the dharti lok represented by Delhi police official Hathi Ram Chaudhary and the patal lok where villains like Hathoda Tyagi thrive.

The series is the story of a typical Delhi cop, Hathi Ram, who lands a high-profile case and goes about the investigation with utmost diligence, only to run into the classic red tape, office machinations and petty politics. How he unravels the motive behind the crime spanning multiple geographies and personalities is the crux of the show. Pataal Lok is a “busy” show with a multitude of characters, spanning multiple locations, constantly moving ahead and yet managing to stay sane, meaningful and engrossing. In the words of Sudeep Sharma “the idea of three India’s is fascinating and when you marry that with the flurry of fault lines running across caste, religion, class and politics you get the inspiration for Pataal Lok”

1.       Pataal Lok is kaleidoscope of characters that capture the essence of India. There Is elitist English media that has a chip on its shoulder, the disgruntled middle class where Hathi Ram belongs, the upwardly mobile Ansari ever hopeful in spite of all the taunts regarding his religion, the four different gangsters who are the scum of society and the torch-bearers of the “well-oiled machinery” who keep the system going. Look at the four gangsters who are arrested in the opening scene – Tope Singh, a lower caste Punjabi, Kabir M – a Muslim from Delhi, Cheeni – a man pretending to be a woman and finally, Vishal Tyagi – the serial killer from Bundelkhand. Each one of them has a horrific past and that constitutes who they are and what becomes of them.

Then there are the women characters, notably Gul Panang in a cameo as Hathi Ram’s wife and Niharika Lyra Dutt as Sara Mathews. The relationship between Hathi Ram and his wife is quintessentially Indian middle class – notice how there is no hug or kiss (one exception), no tenderness, no utterances of love, no hello and no bye but then one mention of his headache that can only be relieved by her Champi is enough to bring a smile on to both faces! Sara is Sanjeev’s extramarital paramour, again testimony to workplace romances of convenience but is quick to delink herself and go after the truth upholding her journalism values.

2.       Sudip Sharma and his team of creators (Gunjit Chopra, Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta) have employed a brilliant strategy to put out the show in two distinct parts but joined together seamlessly. In the first part spanning the first few episodes they put out all the characters, sub-plots and moving parts but the beauty is that you do not get inundated by all this. In the second part, the onion peels off and the parts of the jigsaw puzzle come together in a steady and consistent manner and it all begins to make sense. There is no loud drama, high pitched dialogues, jarring reveal or signature scenes in Pataal Lok and the credit goes entirely to well thought-out characters and intelligent writing. The show is in some ways a cross between Delhi Crime and Sacred Games but in my view, this is a potent combination of a novel concept, fantastic visualization and very real characters. Throw in some political slant, media madness and the whodunit comes alive!

3.       Pataal Lok rated 8.7 on IMdb and also got huge fan following within days of its launch. One consistent feedback on the show has been “intelligent writing”. What is this this intelligent writing all about? First the show deals with an amazing laundry list of themes all relevant to life in contemporary India – Loneliness of the high and mighty, Infidelity, tendency to say no to children, child trafficking, media and its penchant for viewership at any cost, class and caste differences, CBI versus police and all the bandobust that goes with it, middle class aspirations, hope and ambition of the younger generation, discrimination against minorities, exploitation of women, politics and favoritism at work. What interesting is that it steers clear of hyperbole and stays close to reality

Each episode begins at a random point and the narrative kind of catches up with that point at some time and “it all begins to make sense”. The very fact that the viewer does not lose perspective is testimony to excellent writing and perhaps a lot of proof reading.

The characters evolve during the journey. Sanjeev Mehra starts off as a loser but as the investigation proceeds, he is in the spotlight. It is ironic that at the end, he is unhappy when told that the case has nothing to do with him. Quite symbolically, Hathi Ram moves forward to halt the swing of the tik-tok on Sanjeev’s desk for five minutes – it is almost as a virtual clock is halted for five minutes to confront reality!

Some dialogues are of course stand out – “Jisse maine Musalmaan tak banne nahi diya, use aapne jihadi bana diya” screams a father as his son is accused of being a terrorist. Or the tongue-in-cheek one liner from Hathi Ram as he says “Shastron mein likha hain magar maine WhatsApp pe padha hai”

4.       Jaideep Ahlawat is brilliant as the ridiculously named Hathi Ram Chaudhary and literally carries the show on his shoulders. He is not a crusader, nor a superman and not even an astute investigator, Instead, he is a dogged policeman who does what ke knows. His white sneakers, slight paunch and weary, tired look is almost exactly opposite of what you would expect from a hero. He is accepting of the circumstances and yet remains focussed on the case.Vignettes of his rough childhood serve to shape the persona of a man who wants to ensure that he is seen as a hero by his son.

The other character who stands out is Abhishek Banerjee as Hathoda Tyagi. He is sullen, silent and menacing but not loud. What makes you worried is how real he is and the fact that you could easily run into someone like him in real life! The fact that he has a soft corner for dogs and as a corollary believes that anyone who loves dogs is also a good man is a nice touch that has of course other ramifications in the show.

Ansari is very likable and very convincing without trying too much. He represents the hope that acts as a succor from the dark and terrifying world of the other worlds.

5.       The show does not fight shy of real issues and without making a judgement call, leaves it to the viewer to surmise. The minority persecution, beef related deaths and the concoction of Pakistan and ISI sponsored foreign hand make you reflect on reality. The main villain of the show is a nameless Master ji and is never really shown on screen. He is a faceless nirgun character and that furthers the myth.  As a matter of trivia, the deathbed scene features the creator of the show, Sudip Sharma himself.

Pataal Lok is a suspense thriller with deeply etched out characters and brilliant writing that is bound to make it a cult classic. It is a novel concept around the three classes that co-exist in India but are also bound together like the cement that binds the bricks in a wall. People in each class can move up or down but there are consequences and that makes it fascinating. As you unpeel the next Matryoshka doll, be prepared to watch it dance! I am going with a 4.5 on 5 for Pataal Lok.