The elite circles of Mumbai, the city that never sleeps have many hidden secrets. The good, bad, evil, and whatnot, there are many secrets hidden in Mumbai out of which some are to be explored and some are to be destroyed. Sanak-Ek Junoon, MX original web series, a Loneranger and Housefull Motion Picture Production based on one such hidden secret is streaming now on popular digital platform MX Player.
Story
Ajay Purohit (Rohit Bose Roy) the young and ambitious lawyer from Indore moves to the big city of Mumbai with his microbiologist wife Ragini (Aindrita Ray) with a lot of dreams to make it to the top.
The opportunity knocked at his door in the form of Shekhawat and Lohia, the famous solicitor and lawyers firm owned by Shekhawat. Ajay gets nearer to making his dream a reality but he needs to keep some secrets so that he can reach the ‘upper floor’ of the firm where there was name, fame, and wealth.
Shekhawath lures Ajay Putohit to participate in his famous Friday night parties where wife swapping was followed unscrupulously so that it paves the way to the ‘upper floor more easily. Ajay who was invited to the party has to choose between his career and his relationship with his beloved wife Ragini to reach the ‘upper floor’.
How Ajay convinces Ragini to be a part of the Friday night swinging party and what are the consequences faced by Ragini on her way to ensure the success of her husband is the remaining story of Sanak-Ek Junoon.
Performances
Rohit Bose Roy is the pick among all the actors who impressed with his display of varied emotions quite effectively to create the right impact to the engaging storyline.
His over-ambitious nature, the love for his wife, his emotional turmoil when confronted with the truth, and his evil-like genius when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder by jumping over the snakes were aptly conveyed through the performance of Rohit Roy which was topnotch.
Aindrita Ray as the hapless wife Ragini who got addicted to swinging has shown a wide variety of emotions impactfully. The scenes where she attempts suicide and the showdown with Ajay while she was being taken to Indore indicate the amount of involvement by Arindrita in her character which she has presented without any blemish.
In other characters, Pawan Chopra has nailed it in the character of Shekhawat who maintained the same composure all through looked more than apt for this role.
Tasneem Ali plays a pivotal character of Beena who leads the story towards the climax. Her performance while educating Ragini about pleasures of life and its nuances helped by some thoughtful dialogues was the highlight and she has done a fabulous job.
Aantara Banerjee as Tina, Rushad Rana as Mark, and Amaara Sangam were spot on with their performance who no doubt have added the spark to the narrative.
Behind the scenes
We rarely come across this kind of bold subject where the evils in the elite society get exposed. On this front, Sanak-Ek Junoon scores a victory for bringing out the unethical culture of wife swapping and the dangers of swinging into the limelight. All the credit goes to the writer Vikram Bhatt and director Krishna Bhatt for the eye-opening series.
The choices some people like Ajay Purohit make to reach short-term goals or to achieve something overnight have serious repercussions not only in their lives but it affects the lives of the ones they love like Ragini. This was excellently conveyed by the crisp narrative of Krishna Bhatt who has shaped the series into an interesting one by adding necessary twists and turns so that the attention of the audience can be sustained.
The climax was the only loophole as it ended without any punch with just one meeting of Ragini with Shekhawat where she narrates a story that was quite unbelievable and hard to digest. The climax could have been devised in a better way to give season 1 of the series a different kind of snazzy ending.
Final Verdict
Though there were some not so vulgar love-making scenes well within the limits, Sanak-Ek Junoon was a realistic portrayal of conflicting choices that has put a wonderful relationship into jeopardy.
Watch the 10-episode series with an open mind and ponder over many questions that may arise while watching as the growing evils of urbanization in the name of change and innovation gradually shadow our much cherished cultural values where relationships are also getting turned into a business.
