Janaawar review

Cast: Bhuvan Arora, Vinod Suryavanshi, Badrul Islam, Atul Kale, Bhagwan Tiwari, Eshika Dey, Vaibhav Yashvir, Deekshha Sonalkar Tham, and Niti Kaushik

Director: Sachindra Vats

Rating: ★★.5

Janaawar, the new series from Zee5, has its heart in the right place. A rooted police procedural drama, it deals with caste discrimination in a sensitive manner and asks the question: ‘How much can a person take before they turn into the animal the society wants them to be?’ The problem is the route it takes to get there. Janaawar has the subtlety of a sledgehammer and dialogue so archaic that they belong in a 70s film, if not a museum. Together, this lack of finesse dulls any well-intentioned storytelling and more-than-decent performances from the principal cast.

The plot

Janaawar is set in Chhand, a small town that is divided by caste at every turn. Sub-Inspector Hemant Kumar (Bhuvan Arora) also navigates this discrimination while trying to do his duty. He finds himself trapped in a case of multiple killings that rocks the small town, all the while trying to be there for his pregnant wife.

Janaawar does not shy away from keeping caste and the inhuman treatment of the so-called ‘lower caste’ at the centre of its narrative. Lines like ‘jaati kabhi nahi jaati’ find their way into the dialogue repeatedly, driving home the point a little too loudly at times. The art of subtle narration is lost on the show and its makers, it seems.

Movie Review

Janaawar

2.5/5

Janaawar deals with a lowly cop investigating multiple murders in a nondescript North Indian town, while also battling caste realities around him.

Cast

Bhuvan Arora, Vinod Suryavanshi, Badrul Islam, Atul Kale, Bhagwan Tiwari, Eshika Dey, Vaibhav Yashvir, Deekshha Sonalkar Tham, and Niti Kaushik

Verdict

Janaawar has its heart in the right place and is aided by solid performances, but it lacks the subtlety and finesse to truly do justice to the nuanced issues it tackles.

How the show falters

Of course, a show with casteism at its core can never be understated. But here, the show discards any attempts at finesse in a bid to be direct. This extends to the show’s depiction of the plight of women and violence in general. Everything is dialled up a notch, to the point that it feels voyeuristic just to watch it all on the screen.

What salvages the show are the performances, starting with its lead, Bhuvan Arora. The actor is at the front and centre of a big project for the first time, and he proves that he has it in him to carry the responsibility. He brings both the authority of a cap and the underconfidence of a man bound by caste realities to the fore quite well. And among the principal cast, he manages to ace the accent the best. Badrul Islam and Vinod Suryavanshi are the other strong performers, both delivering memorable performances of men at the opposite ends of the caste spectrum equally convincingly.

Janaawar is also a murder mystery. But one that gets drowned in the mediocrity of its narrative. Looking at the intentions and the performances, one does wish that Janaawar had received better treatment than it eventually did.