Bollywood is known for its gangster dramas which never run out of fashion. These films have got a separate set of audiences who enjoy watching the saga of gang wars from the time of Deewaar (1975).
With the advent of OTT, series like Mirzapur https://snooper-scope.in/mirzapur-season-2-review-the-poignant-revenge-tale/ further fuelled the gangster series and has become an inspiration to many makers who went on to churn out stories against the backdrop of gangsters.
Cartel, produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under the renowned production house ALTBalaji is one such typical gangster drama embedded with family ties and fight for power.
Story
An assassination attempt on the life of powerful underworld leader Rani Maai (Supriya Pathak) throwing her into a state of coma comes as a bolt from the blue to her nephews Major Arjun (Tanuj Virwani), Madhukar (Jitendra Joshi), and son Abhay (Rithvik Dhanjani) who rule the underworld of Mumbai.
The peaceful co-existence between the gangs which constitute the Cartel gets disturbed as everyone comes under the needle of suspicion due to the assassination attempt on Rani Maai.
While this is the main plot, many subplots revolve around family ties and friction between gangs laced with many twists including a fair dose of romance, seduction along gunfights in this 14-episode long series that was streaming now on ALTBalaji and MXPlayer digital channels.
Performances
Tanuj Virwani stands tall as Arjun, the Major with his calm and composed attitude. The emotional balance displayed by this character was exemplary and Tanuj nailed this character in his characteristic style.
In sharp contrast was the character of Jitendra Joshi as the hotheaded and boisterous Madhu Bhau who loves his family a lot. Jitendra showed great potential in carrying out his character with aplomb and it was really fun to watch some of his histrionics and listen to his nonchalant dialogues which stay as the highlight of the series.
On the other hand, Rithvik Dhanjani plays a different character Abhay who lives in his world and spends more time wooing girls rather than doing business. He excels in some of the scenes like the one where he writes a love letter with blood to his girlfriend Maya (Monica Dogra) which was quite hilarious.
In addition, full marks to Supriya Pathak for her tremendous screen presence followed by Girija Oak as Rama the darling wife of Madhukar who always keeps him under wraps so that he doesn’t let his guard off. She not only looked beautiful but belts out a perky performance.
Tannishtha Chatterjee as Romilla, Divya Agarwal, Pranati Rai Prakash, Subhrajyoti Barat, Aswath Bhatt, Kannan Arunachalam, and Anil George made their mark with noteworthy performances.
Behind the scenes
The writers Sambit Mishra and Monish K Talpade have done their homework well in detailing the characters so that each had their importance throughout the series which was the main asset of Cartel.
Cartel was filled with every element that a gangster movie lover wants in it. Action, sex, romance, suspense, mystery, bloodshed, and whatnot, everything was present in this series. The writers deserve the appreciation for their effort.
Pulkit, the director, and Prashant Bhagia, the additional director too have steered the show without any room for boredom. But somewhat a slicker screenplay would have done wonders for this series as the runtime will be a hindrance for some those who look for swift and quicker action.
The only drawback was the loud background score by Bharatt-Saurabh as one can’t stop hitting the volume button whenever the crescendo reaches the extremity of piercing the eardrums. The gangster drama need not have so much cacophony behind it to establish the plot, it can even be elevated through some innovative and soft music too. This may please be noted by the budding music directors as it makes bigger sense than the blazing sounds that dominate the proceedings on the screen.
Final Verdict
Overall, Cartel was an enjoyable gangster drama with plenty of action and outstanding performances if one can patiently sit through all the episodes.
Nevertheless, the runtime, which exceeds a vee bit, Cartel can be given a sincere try as it constitutes all the ingredients one can find in a typical gangster series.
