The anti Sikh riots in 1984 that ripped India apart are the most horrendous moments in the history of the country where several innocent lives were lost. The mindless massacre which took place in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana has spread to other places depicted the hatred of people aftermath assassination of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards.
Grahan is a 8-episdoe web series which dwells against the back drop of these unwarranted riots that claimed nearly 3,350 lives officially and 8000-17,000 unofficially* is streaming now on the leading digital platform Disney+Hotstar.
https://snooper-scope.in/hotstar-specials-grahan-mystery-web-series-trailer-out/
Story
2016 – Amrita Singh (Zoya Hussain) was made the Head of the Special Investigation Team to probe into the anti-Sikh riots in Bokaro. She finds out that her father Gurusewak (Pavan Malhotra) was the prime suspect in these riots. She had to decide between duty and her father who now leads a simple life with the only aim of getting his daughter married and settle in Canada.
One more link that surfaces in the story dates back to 1984 which was the enchanting love story of Rishi Ranjan (Anshuman Pushkar) and Manu aka Manjeet Chhabra (Wamiqa Gabbi). At a time when these two want to give a new touch to their love life in Bokaro, the assassination of Indira Gandhi creates havoc as the town cries for vengeance forcing Rishi to lead a mob to torch down the house of his lover Manu.
How are these both stories connected and what is the future course of action ahead Amrita is the remaining story of Grahan.
Performances
As a righteous police officer Amrita Singh, Zoya Hussain infused life into the character and portrayed various underlying shades with great authority.
Pavan Malhotra in a guilt ridden character has proved himself once again with his superlative performance.
Its Anshuman Pushkar and Wamiqa who made a perfect couple on the screen and its delightful to watch their old school romance which steals every young heart.
The other actors Teekam Joshi, Sahidur Rahaman, Abhinav Pateria, Satyakaam Anand, Sudhanva Deshpande, Sukhwinder Chahal and Nandish Sandhu have done well in their respective roles.
Behind the scenes
Its not an easy task to depict one of the darkest chapters of India after Independence and skillfully translating it on to the screen from the well acclaimed book Chaurasi by Satya Vyas can be possible only with great amount of belief in the script.
The creator Shailendra Kumar Jha and director Ranjan Chandel are successful at making the attempt itself which was like winning half the game.
The switching between two time lines 1984 and 2016 was handled perfectly with the help of non linear editing which was crisp and smooth.
The presentation of two stories parallelly in a well defined manner without any detraction by touching various sensitive points was really commendable. Full credit goes to Shailendra and Ranjan for their stupendous effort.
Another major contribution was from the music director Amit Trivedi who has stuck the right chord with songs ‘Chori Chori’, ‘O Jogiya’, and ‘Main Hoon Teri Parchayi’ which stand apart.
Wasiq Khan’s production design was an asset while the camera work by cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi was appealing and aptly reflected the mood and momentum of the narrative.
Final verdict
Grahan was a well crafted tale of love and hatred told in a subtle manner that has the potential to keep the audience hooked all through the 7-hour long series.
It can be watched to get all those dark memories lingering back with a lesson or two to the present generation who need to know both sides of the story in its true perspective.
*Source : Wikipedia
