The Great Indian Murder (2022)

Watchseries; The Great Indian Murder, out now on Disney+ Hotstar, is an insanely disastrous adaptation of a maddeningly ambitious novel. It's based in parts on Vikas Swarup's 2008 whodunnit Six Suspects - Swarup is best known for the book that got made into the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire - which, through its six titular suspects, comments on virtually everything under the sun. Class, politics, indigenous, nationalists, spoiled elite, the unprivileged, and Gandhian principles - you name it, Swarup's book attempts to tackle it. Not all of these make it to The Great Indian Murder, but as you can tell from the refashioned grandiose title, the new Hotstar Specials series - directed and co-written by Tigmanshu Dhulia - is no less audacious.

Most scenes land with absolutely zero impact - as we push deeper and deeper, it's mind-bogglingly excruciating to watch as Tigmanshu Dhulia (the sole director) haplessly struggles with the material. And while the book had enough narrative intrigue to push you through its hackneyed clichéd ideas, the Disney+ Hotstar adaptation is all backstory and no forward momentum. That's true even deep into the final episode when the net should be closing in on the suspect. The Great Indian Murder opts for an unnecessary and unbelievable last-minute twist that does nothing to add to the story, but exists purely to leave the audience guessing (and hanging). It's a plot twist for plot twist sakes.

The Great Indian Murder is disjointed, a mess from start to finish, and ends on a whimper. It's quite possibly the worst thing Disney+ Hotstar has ever said yes to.

It's all further dragged down by some of the dumbest cops ever written. They get involved in useless chase sequences, after turning their backs on a suspect. It takes them days to realise that they should ask crime scene witnesses to submit their phones so they can go through videos that were shot on the night of a crime. They don't think to go through evidence when an incident happens or when a suspect is caught. Instead, they only realise it days later - or is told to them by someone who wasn't even directly assigned to the case evidence to begin with. Some of this is done to drag the suspense and lie to the audience. It's not all dumb cops in The Great Indian Murder, there are other dumb characters too.

Because of the terrible writing and lacklustre direction, all the actors involved feel like they are working in a B-movie or something. It doesn't help that The Great Indian Murder is technically poor as well. The camerawork and cinematography - by Rishi Punjabi - is pedestrian and impersonal. There's no visual language on display here; so much of the new Hotstar Specials series is shot with long lenses that give it a terrible look. Even the sound and foley work is subpar, comparable more with student films than with productions that belong on the Big Three (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video being the other two). In essence, The Great Indian Murder feels both cheap and phoned in.

The new Hotstar Specials series revolves around the investigation into the murder of playboy industrialist Vicky Rai (Jatin Goswami) who, in Swarup's book, is written as an amalgamation of Jessica Lal murderer Manu Sharma, Salman Khan (hunting endangered blackbucks), and Sanjeev Nanda (involved in the 1999 Delhi hit-and-run). On The Great Indian Murder, Rai is convicted for covering up the death of two teenage girls, but later goes scot-free after his Chhattisgarh politician father Jagannath Rai

The Great Indian Murder, out now on Disney+ Hotstar, is an insanely disastrous adaptation of a maddeningly ambitious novel. It's based in parts on Vikas Swarup's 2008 whodunnit Six Suspects - Swarup is best known for the book that got made into the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire - which, through its six titular suspects, comments on virtually everything under the sun. Class, politics, indigenous, nationalists, spoiled elite, the unprivileged, and Gandhian principles - you name it, Swarup's book attempts to tackle it. Not all of these make it to The Great Indian Murder, but as you can tell from the refashioned grandiose title, the new Hotstar Specials series - directed and co-written by Tigmanshu Dhulia - is no less audacious.

Most scenes land with absolutely zero impact - as we push deeper and deeper, it's mind-bogglingly excruciating to watch as Tigmanshu Dhulia (the sole director) haplessly struggles with the material. And while the book had enough narrative intrigue to push you through its hackneyed clichéd ideas, the Disney+ Hotstar adaptation is all backstory and no forward momentum. That's true even deep into the final episode when the net should be closing in on the suspect. The Great Indian Murder opts for an unnecessary and unbelievable last-minute twist that does nothing to add to the story, but exists purely to leave the audience guessing (and hanging). It's a plot twist for plot twist sakes.

The Great Indian Murder is disjointed, a mess from start to finish, and ends on a whimper. It's quite possibly the worst thing Disney+ Hotstar has ever said yes to.

It's all further dragged down by some of the dumbest cops ever written. They get involved in useless chase sequences, after turning their backs on a suspect. It takes them days to realise that they should ask crime scene witnesses to submit their phones so they can go through videos that were shot on the night of a crime. They don't think to go through evidence when an incident happens or when a suspect is caught. Instead, they only realise it days later - or is told to them by someone who wasn't even directly assigned to the case evidence to begin with. Some of this is done to drag the suspense and lie to the audience. It's not all dumb cops in The Great Indian Murder, there are other dumb characters too.

Because of the terrible writing and lacklustre direction, all the actors involved feel like they are working in a B-movie or something. It doesn't help that The Great Indian Murder is technically poor as well. The camerawork and cinematography - by Rishi Punjabi - is pedestrian and impersonal. There's no visual language on display here; so much of the new Hotstar Specials series is shot with long lenses that give it a terrible look. Even the sound and foley work is subpar, comparable more with student films than with productions that belong on the Big Three (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video being the other two). In essence, The Great Indian Murder feels both cheap and phoned in.

The new Hotstar Specials series revolves around the investigation into the murder of playboy industrialist Vicky Rai (Jatin Goswami) who, in Swarup's book, is written as an amalgamation of Jessica Lal murderer Manu Sharma, Salman Khan (hunting endangered blackbucks), and Sanjeev Nanda (involved in the 1999 Delhi hit-and-run). On The Great Indian Murder, Rai is convicted for covering up the death of two teenage girls, but later goes scot-free after his Chhattisgarh politician father Jagannath Rai

The Great Indian Murder watchseries. The Great Indian Murder (2022) Review :

Are you a fan of Murder mysteries? Do you find yourself capable enough to predict the twist and yet find something unpredictable at the end? If yes, then Disney+ Hotstar's latest offering The Great Indian Murder is eligible to fit in your watchlist, but not with high expectations. The Great Indian Murder serves as an webseries adaptation to Vikas Swarup's famous novel 'Six Suspects' and most certainly remains faithful to its soul. It bores you little in the middle portion owing to its Marathon runtime, but then it has enough shocking moments stored in for the climax, which again, aren't fulfilling but quite confusing with unending twists. Spoiling any sort of suspense here would be like another crime, unless you have read the Novel, so better not reveal anything here.

The entire plot of this murder mystery revolves around unanswered questions. How does an investigation shape when there are new suspects at every step and no way to find the right ones? Will the criminal be brought to justice, or will the detective spin further into a web of lies? Or everything you have seen so far was just a delusion to keep you away from the main secret? The Great Indian Murder is full of questions and every episode leaves you with new questions. The series is about Vicky Rai, a cunning, greedy and womanizer 32-year-old owner of the Rai Group of Industries and son of the Home Minister of Chhattisgarh, Jagannath Rai. Vicky Rai gets murdered in cold blood in a party thrown by him to celebrate his acquittal in a rape and murder case of two Shelter Home girls. Six suspects surrounding his murder come under the radar of the investigating officers DCP Sudha Bhardwaj and Suraj Yadav of Central Bureau of Investigation. Post the first two episodes, The Great Indian Murder explores the entire background of every single suspect in every single episode until we reach the final ninth one.

The Great Indian Murder has a big cast and thankfully it provides enough screentime to all the pivotal characters without having them dragged unnecessarily. Jatin Goswami has a Major presence in the first three episodes and he presents Vicky Rai in such manners that you start hating him very quickly. The first scene with Paoli Dam, and you know this guy is a true evil. His expressions, dialogue delivery and attitude everything says so. Paoli Dam looks damn hot in that first scene and just two minutes later we see the actor coming out of her. Them she disappears. Once Pratik Gandhi and Richa Chadha enter the picture, they take over the show, and how. Truly, in bossy manners. A special mention to Shashank Arora and Raghubir Yadav who have stood out as show-stealers and have eaten up others, whoever appeared alongside them in those individual frames. Amey Wagh plays a very interesting character of a journalist and you wish to see him more than anyone else. Hopefully, we'll see it in the next season. Ashutosh Rana, Mani PR and Sharib Hashmi have done considerably well with their roles.

Writers Vijay Maurya, Puneet Sharma and Tigmanshu Dhulia have adapted the novel in good manners but they surely could have trimmed it better. It's the pace of its screenplay which makes the difference as we know the pace matters a lot when it comes to crime investigation thrillers. The middle portion of the series is slow and causes a few naps as well. Once you survive that part, you are in for a thrilling ride in the last episode.

Dhulia, as a director, understands the motive and the overall

"The Great Indian Murder" a crime thriller premiered on Disney Hotstar on February 4th..

Directed by Thigamanshu Dulia

Produced by Ajay Devgn and Priti Sinha

Story adapted from the novel of Vikas Swarup's "Six Suspects"

There are 9 episodes in season 1....

Verdict: Blockbuster...

An intriguing crime thriller.....

Each episode brings out a new twists and turns...

Screen play was justust awesome as it never lets down the viewers to discontinue the episode...

Thigamanshu Dulia entralling and meticulous direction....

Performance of Pratik Gandhi, Richa Chadda, Ashutosh Rana, Raghuvir Yadav, Sharib Hashmi , Shashank Arora nicely performed....

Now just waiting to watch Season 2 to unevil more secrets.

A show can only be as good as its story. As usual the defeatist, apologetic, negativist, inferiority complexed spectacles of the author Swarup ruined the show even before it was made. Same slums, bhopal gas, 'everyone is corrupt' ideology percolates throughout. It seemed that there were never any naxals in the country, only corrupt govt lied to the nation about any naxal terror. Guess some people just dont have capacity to embrace change & remain stuck in negativity. Still it was a well directed show, some actors were good. Ajay Devgan should think twice before lending his name to any production. Just my view.

Full on boring. Don't watch, that's all I have to say, I cannot waste anymore time than I already have on this show.

Can you believe this, I DB won't allow me to submit my review, they consider it too small.

Tigmanshu dhulia is a capable director and he shows it here. It is a good show. It may look a bit incomplete bcoz its second season is coming. Watch it.