Web Series ‘Jehanabad- Of Love & War’ Review: The first week of February 2023 was very auspicious for writer-director Rajeev Barnwal. His film Vadh came on Netflix and along with it his written and co-directed web series ‘Jehanabad – Of Love and War’ also made its OTT debut through Sony Liv. Rajeev himself is a great writer and a very ruthless story editor, so there is not a single scene in his film Vadh and his web series ‘Jehanabad’ that could have been removed or it did not seem that if there were a few more tracks, perhaps the fun of the web series would have increased. To make a perfect dish, every ingredient is added in the right quantity at the right time. Jehanabad is one such series. The pace is a little slow but the climax is dhamakedar.
Hearing the name Jehanabad and seeing the first few scenes, it seems that we will have to see the story of Bihar once again and will have to face the task of catching the groom again, which means that this series will not be much fun. Then after one or two episodes, some more characters enter and it seems that it will definitely be a story of gang war in Bihar or the elimination of goons by the police. The thing that turns out to be beyond expectations is the entry of “Lal Salaam” i.e. Naxalites. As the fog clears, the real story comes to light and then comes an episode with a tremendous climax which captures you so much from the very first minute that you have to rewind again and again to understand each scene. It is amazing to have such a thing in a web series. It is an achievement for writing and direction. The way Satyanshu Singh and Rajiv Barnwal have wrapped up the story in the last episode is praiseworthy.
Ritwik Bhowmik’s lean and thin body neither matches his heavy voice nor his acting ability. He has been a silent warrior throughout the series. Even when the audience understands his secret, they do not hate him. His face has different expressions in all three aspects – his immense love for his brother, a lecturer’s love for his student, and then Lal Salaam. He has done a great job. We have seen Ritwik earlier in Bandish Bandits, Maza Ma and The Whistleblower, but Jehanabad is a great example of his acting without any emotion. When his marriage with his student Harshita Gaur is fixed and he still goes to teach in her class, everyone knows that Sir’s marriage has been fixed. Ritwik’s facial expressions defuse the scene and the tension very well. Before the climax, when Ritwik explodes in front of his uncle Sunil Sinha, he gets his point across without raising his voice.
Harshita Gaur’s character has been created well. She is beautiful. It would be too early to say that she is talented but after Mirzapur, she has got a big role in Jehanabad. Seeing Rajat Kapoor as an upper caste politician from Bihar makes one feel that a good series will sink but Rajat Kapoor’s character is not filmy at all. His character brings some gentleness and stability to the story. Rajat Kapoor, who is always seen in urban roles, also shows cunningness like a Bihari politician, although he is not filmy at all. Satyadeep Mishra’s character as SP is very ordinary but kept becoming important. Parambrata Chatterjee has finally got a great opportunity to get rid of his image, which he has done very well. In November 2005, Naxalites attacked Jehanabad due to which more than 300 prisoners escaped from the jail. This series is based on this story but the plot has been woven very cleverly.
Sneha Khanwalkar’s music may or may not be there but the title track is definitely powerful. This title track composed by Raghav-Arjun will be remembered for a long time. Stockholm and Prague-based Zoaher Musaviar has shot this entire series. A glimpse of perfection is seen in his cinematography. Every shot is a story in itself. Kamlesh Parui is responsible for editing. In the process of giving importance to every scene and every character, the pace will seem to slow down at some places but the climax episode will not let you get up.
There is nothing wrong in Jehanabad. Everything is measured here. It is neither too much nor too little salt. Only the anti-climax that has been added after the climax, that too with the hope that we will get to see the second season, was irritating. The inspiration and show runner of this series is Sudhir Mishra who has already made two films on Naxal problems – Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin and Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi. But the series is directed by Rajiv Barnwal and Satyanshu Singh. It is worth mentioning that Satyanshu Singh himself is a very good writer. In collaboration with AIB, he taught budding writers to write for the visual medium through AIB First Draft. Along with his partner Ramkumar Singh, he has written a book full of informative and practical suggestions like “Kaise Sochta Hai Film Ka Lekhak”. Although the series has been written by Rajiv, Satyanshu gave Rajiv a chance to spread his pen, due to which this powerful series has come before us. Jehanabad of Love and War, watch it immediately.
Detailed Rating
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Sneha Khanwilkar/5 |
Tags: Web Series
FIRST PUBLISHED : February 8, 2023, 22:40 IST