Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Review This Entertaining Netflix Series Has a Poor End (1)

1. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Review: This Entertaining Netflix Series Has a Poor End explorescreen.com/yeh-kaali-kaali-ankhein-movie-review Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Review: This Entertaining Netflix Series Has a Poor End Vanshika Stills from Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhien. (Credits: Netflix) Published On: Feb 02, 2022 Support Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is a pulp fiction-inspired Netflix series with impressive performances and gritty violence, all thrown in an engaging narrative with a disappointing ending. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein begins with a nail-biting sequence where a disheveled Vikrant (the talented Tahir Raj Bhasin) is in hiding and gets attacked by many armed goons. The entire narration is in a flashback and follows Vikrant's perspective. It is a story about how a young Vikrant falls prey to a pair of evil eyes. Young Purva (the impactful Anchal Singh) grows fond of him. She is the daughter of a powerful, corrupt, and monstrous local politician Akheraj Avasthi (the consummate Saurabh Shukla), who appears to be a God-like figure to the general public. To add to this tragedy, Vikrant's family is blinded by the "goodness" of Akheraj ji, leaving no possibility for Vikrant to escape the hell hole. 1/4

2. Most of the exposition is based around how Purva's eyes are evil and prove to be a bad omen for him. Purva intends to befriend him but he declines her friendship request. She leaves the town of Onkara and Vikrant's life is now a rosy painting. He meets his lover, Shikha (the amazing Shweta Tripathi), and dreams of marrying her when Purva makes a grand return and ruins Vikrant's aspirations. Then starts an attempt to cage Vikrant into her life by ensuring he doesn't get his desired jobs and he is blackmailed and harassed. Vikrant, who has an engineering degree, gets coaxed into working as an accountant at Purva's Zumba classes and it ends with him getting sexually harassed. The plot is Vikrant trying to first avoid getting married to Purva and then seeking revenge by orchestrating her death. What happens? Is he able to seek revenge? Well, you gotta watch and find out for yourself. What makes Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein worth a watch? It has an amazing introduction, giving it an international appeal with visually appealing graphics and a great rendition of the Baazigar song "Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein". The introduction comes across as a James Bond movie's theme. Especially the Hindi lyrics being sung in a Spanish accent makes it very enchanting. Despite being a not so extraordinary plot, the story is engaging. It has the ability to hook you. You feel sympathetic towards Vikrant and a burning rage towards Purva. Tahir Raj Bhasin and Shweta Tripathi in Yeh Kaali Kaali Aakhein. (Credits: Netflix) 2/4

3. The performances are very impactful. Tahir Raj Bhasin, in a new found glory, provides a ridiculously amazing work. Brijendra Kala and Sunita Rajwar are fine actors and deliver a memorable and refined performance as Vikrant’s parents. Saurabh Shukla is powerful in his role but he seems to have gotten stereotyped in such roles. Anchal Singh is so convincing that every viewer will despise Purva. Shweta Tripathi is good, but her limited screen presence made me yearn for more of her. Arunoday Singh is introduced towards the end. Initially, he appears bland and cold but it is towards the cliff-hanger that we see more shades to his character. His performance can be looked forward to in season 2. Creator and director Sidharth Sengupta manage to provide nail-biting suspense and drama, keeping the audience at the edge of their seat till the very end. There are places of humor that work well to release tension. It also puts the audience in a fix if they should laugh at the situational moments or feel bad for the character. The editing could have been crispier. Even though the show isn't slow or lagging in nature it could have been more tightly paced heightening the interest. The background music was fine but did not stand out. What is disappointing and a major setback for the show is it's ending. Rather than wrapping up the entire show in one season, they have ended it with an elongated unnecessary cliff-hanger. The decision to drag this show to another season may not have been a creative decision but a commercial one but there is a high possibility it may backfire. In a sphere where new content is available to the audience every day, they might not feel intrigued enough to continue watching the show's second installment. Another matter of concern is slightly subjective yet worthy of dialogue. The show is frenzied, bordering on grotesque depiction. Such visuals can be disturbing. It seems as if the show was inspired from the bold and crude style of Mirzapur and Gangs of Wasseypur but the makers chose to polish it to suit its platform partner – Netflix. It is a balance between being edgy, raw, and real and romanticizing crime. There is heavy usage of foul language and cuss words. It reaches a point that it seems unrealistic and unexplained. Every sentence begins or ends with a cuss word irrespective of whose dialogue it is. This reliance on such derogatory language brings the already discussed questions: “Are the creators misusing the liberty that OTT platforms give to cater to a low-brow audience?”, “Is such language necessary when the content in itself should be sufficient to draw the audiences into viewing it?” and “Isn’t such depiction robbing away the credibility of the show?” Irrespective of the foul language, the dialogues lack depth and aren’t capable of creating a powerful impact on the audience. Thus, it is abundantly clear that the direction and performances save an undercooked and not-so-up-to-the-mark screenplay. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is engaging and intriguing but does not provide any new form of content that the audience shouldn’t miss out on. This show might end up being one of those which eventually gets forgotten in the era of short audience memory and barrage of 3/4

4. new content. However, it might have helped actor Tahir Raj Bhasin make a significant mark in the OTT world. He will next be seen in Loop Lapeta, an official remake of Run Lola Run, scheduled to release on Netflix on 4th February. Watch the trailer here. Yeh Kaali Kaali Aakhein is now streaming on Netflix. Author Biographical Note: Vanshika Lakhani is pursuing her degree in Mass Communications and Journalism from Jai Hind College. She is also an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College from where she studied Arts. She reviews films, web-shows, books, and music. Her reviews have also been published on other portals like Film Companion and Café Dissensus Everyday. She is a huge content enthusiast and enjoys talking to people who tell her about new content to consume. Now she is associated with Explore Screen: The Cognitive Dialogue as an intern. Related posts: Who Is The Ideal Family: A Case Study Of 90s Bollywood. In Conversation With Rohit Roy: On the representation of Street Culture in Bollywood Being The Ricardos Review: A Decent Show But Never A Showstopper The Royal Treatment: What Does The Trailer Promise? 4/4