Amazon Prime Video has mastered one thing and that is making excellent web series on Indian stories. Be it Mirzapur or Paatal Lok, these web series are made so beautifully that the audience watches them again and again. Even their small clips go viral, their memes are made and they also become very popular. In this series, they have now released another wonderful web series “Hush Hush” i.e. secretly, confidentially, without making any noise. You may not get to see the noise of this web series anywhere else except Amazon Prime Video, but if you miss watching this web series or do not like to watch it, then it will be counted among your big mistakes this year. Excellent star cast, excellent and tight story, extremely effective direction, paying attention to small things and ending on such a climax where there will not only be hope but also wait for the next season. Hush Hush is a web series whose theme is for adults only but still, while avoiding obscenity, unnecessary abuse, grotesque violence, a web of human relationships has been created in which you will get trapped while walking at a slow pace. Do watch it, watch it completely on the weekend.
Hush Hush is the story of two girls, Ishi (who later becomes Juhi Chawla) and her adopted and accepted younger sister Meera (who later becomes Ayesha Jhulka) who grew up in an orphanage for girls. When the time for adoption comes, Ishi sends Meera in her place but the person who adopted Meera sexually abuses her. Years later, Ishi becomes a very dangerous, sharp, ambitious PR consultant in Delhi who keeps getting projects passed for her clients by luring ministers and officers with money. Meera and her husband Satish get into debt because of their sick son and they get a notice to vacate their orphanage and house. In such a situation, Ishi, with the help of one of her acquaintances Vinayak, gets them a house and a building for the orphanage for free. Ishi is very fast, she makes big people and industrialists earn crores and billions of profits and herself also becomes very rich. Suddenly, several cases are registered against Ishi and she has to flee the country overnight, but before she can do so, she learns a secret and out of guilt, she commits suicide. No one understands why Ishi committed suicide. Neither do her Chandaal Chaukdi friends Zaira (Shahana Goswami), Saiba (Soha Ali Khan), and Dolly (Kritika Kamra). Police inspector Geeta (Karisma Tanna in a wonderful role) is given the responsibility of investigating her suicide. There are many layers to this case, swinging between murder and suicide. Is the case solved, is the real crime revealed, is everything clearly visible or is there someone else behind the scenes who is playing all the tricks? To know this, definitely watch Hush Hush on Amazon Prime Video.
The writers include Shikha Sharma, who is the producer but the main writer of this web series. And Ashish Mehta. Experienced writer Juhi Chaturvedi has written its dialogues. The executive producer of the series is Tanuja Chandra, who has returned to the screen after a long time. Tanuja has made women-centric films like Sangharsh, Dushman, Sur, Kareeb Kareeb Single. Tanuja’s family has amazingly successful people. Her mother Kamna is a famous writer and has written films like Prem Rog, 1942 A Love Story, Chandni and Kareeb. Tanuja’s brother Vikram Chandra (not the NDTV journalist) is also a famous writer and a very successful Netflix show has been made on one of his great works “Sacred Games”. Tanuja’s sister is film critic Anupama Chopra, who is married to director Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The female characters in Tanuja’s films are very thoughtful, their characters have many layers, and the events happening in the lives of these characters are real and not dramatic. Tanuja’s influence is visible in almost every character in Hush Hush and the interesting thing is that the male characters in this series appear for a short time but they do a great job in taking the story forward.
Juhi had an important role in Rishi Kapoor’s last film Sharmaji Namkeen and in Hush Hush she is the central character of the story. Juhi’s character, who works as a lobbyist behind the scenes of a PR agency, has been created very carefully. It is good to see Juhi’s acting that at least somewhere she is acting without smiling or giggling. In her friend circle is Shahana Goswami who is playing the role of a dress designer. Shahana, who says things like “Others have families but I have my career”, is a well-settled character in this series. Soha Ali Khan, who lives a quiet life with her husband and children despite the threat to her life, was earlier a brave journalist. Juhi’s third friend Kritika Kamra is the daughter-in-law of a rich family whose freedom is being encroached upon by her mother-in-law. All three have played their characters very well because each role, each dialogue has been written very thoughtfully. Not a single scene seems unnecessary to you, rather at some places you expect that this scene should have been written longer so that you could watch something else. But the winner is Karishma Tanna who plays the role of Inspector Geeta Talehan. This is different from all the roles that Karishma Tanna has played so far. Her image so far has been that of a dim-witted, awkward, model but after Hush Hush one will be forced to accept that getting work out of the actress is the director’s job. Karishma Tanna is the pivot of the entire series. Kudos to her for her role, her acting and her underplay in this series. The entire series can be watched just for her work. Vibha Chibber has played Karishma’s boss and ACP but she is a wonderful actress anyway. Ayesha Jhulka has also looked fine. Despite being Tanuja’s series, the characters of Nitish Kapoor (Kamya’s husband), Rajesh Agarwal (Ayesha Jhulka’s husband), Gaurav Dwivedi (Vinayak Sethi), Pankaj Singh Tiwari (Advait) and Benjamin Gilani have taken the responsibility of keeping the steering wheel of the entire story turning.
Along with Tanuja Chandra, Kopal Nathani and Ashish Pandey have also tried to direct some episodes and sequences. The team of writers and directors have created some beautiful scenes which would be better if the audience sees and feels them rather than writing about them. After the attack on Soha’s husband, when Shahana and Kritika reach the hospital, the entire scene after that is better than the best. Shahana’s fashion show is a wonderful tribute to her late friend. Each character seems to be real, that is, such characters exist, we have seen them. There is no filmy stupidity. It is a story of the high society of Gurugram but no character is seen pretending to be rich. Everything has been left for the audience to understand for themselves. When you, as a writer or director, do not consider the audience to be fools, your chances of success increase. Tanuja and the other two directors have shown a lot through scene composition, art direction, sets and the interaction between the actors and they have done it very well. After a long time, a series came whose all episodes I felt like watching in one go, and then felt like watching certain scenes again and again.
Hush Hush is neither acidic like Mirzapur nor is it involved in mind games like Paatal Lok, nor is it based on the politics within a mysterious world like Inside Edge. Hush Hush is complete in itself. It is a universal story. It has no relation to time and period. You will not feel incompleteness in any of its scenes. Chandan Arora has to be praised for his editing that his editing is so fine that just when the scene dissolves, there is a breath in it and when it fades in, the expectation of a new thrill or a new emotion begins. Chandan had also edited the web series Escape Live and the film Kat-Putli for Disney+ Hotstar. His years of experience can be seen here. Such a big cast, such a great story and if even one scene seems unnecessary, then it is the editor’s fault. Chandan is an expert. The colour palette used by cinematographer Shaaz Mohammad to shoot the elite families and their homes of Gurugram proves that Shaaz is a horse for the long race. Amazing work.