Star Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Amruta Khanvilkar, Nandish Sandhu, Anurag Sinha, Sharad Kelkar, Zoya Afroz
Director: Neeraj Pandey, Raghav M Jairath, B A Fida
Synopsis:
TASKAREE: THE SMUGGLER'S WEB is about honest officers on a bold mission.
The Parliament is facing claims that the Government of India isn't doing enough to stop smuggling. With elections coming up in a few months, the Finance Minister asks the Customs to be tough. Prakash Kumar (Anurag Sinha) joins as the Assistant Commissioner at Mumbai's international airport. Right away, he asks his senior to cancel the suspension of Arjun Meena (Emraan Hashmi), Mitali Kamath (Amruta Khanvilkar), and Ravinder Gujjar (Nandish Sandhu), and have them join his team. Prakash thinks they are honest and will be great help. Arjun, Mitali, and Ravinder are happy to go back to work. Prakash tells them to expand their team and bring in more honest officers. He also says their task is to take down the Choudhary syndicate, led by Ranjeet Choudhary, also known as Bada Choudhary (Sharad Kelkar). Choudhary lives in Lake Como, Italy and has bases in Rome, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and the Middle Eastern city of Al Dera. With smart planning and help from a spy, Priya Khubchandani (Zoya Afroz), Choudhary plans to smuggle a large amount of gold, drugs, and watches into India through Mumbai's airport. He makes this decision after getting a tip that there will be no checks on a particular day. Arjun and his team prepare for what might be the biggest seizure in the Mumbai Customs Department's history in a single day. However, there are many challenges, and if they anger Choudhary, they might face serious problems. What happens next is the rest of the series.
Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web Story Review:
The story by Neeraj Pandey and Vipul K Rawal is both informative and entertaining.
The screenplay is light, and unlike Neeraj Pandey's previous works like BABY and SPECIAL OPS, the tone is more humorous. The idea is to make viewers enjoy the world of smuggling, although there are some loose ends in the writing. The dialogues are realistic and add both laughs and drama.
The direction by Neeraj Pandey, Raghav M Jairath, and B A Fida is smooth, and the narrative style is unusual.
The show has seven episodes, but almost two or three are used to explain the customs world, cross-border smuggling, and the backstories of the characters. The directors keep the narrative easy to follow, which was important because there has never been a show on this topic before. Thanks to the execution, viewers not only understand the story but are also drawn into the world. The narrative also moves back and forth, adding to the fun and mystery. One standout sequence is the flashback of Bada Choudhary. The SIN CITY-style color palette is very eye-catching. There are also several twists, some of which are very unexpected.
On the flip side, some things happen too easily.
The moles on both sides are planted without much explanation. Priya's decision to leave a stable job and become an undercover agent is hard to believe. The scene where Rahul (Freddy Daruwala) is left in the desert starts amusing, but it's unconvincing that he took almost a day to reach the city limits. The fake cops didn't leave him that far from Al Dera. The climax is also too convenient. Viewers might question whether it's really that easy to defeat such a powerful villain. In reality, someone like Choudhary would have strong connections with top authorities and would go to great lengths to stop the honest officers from bringing him down. Lastly, the color grading and visual style of the show are too flashy and jarring in some scenes.
Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web Performances:
Emraan Hashmi is always a pleasure to watch.
He shows the right mix of charm, humor, and depth in his role. Amruta Khanvilkar fully gets into her character and makes the audience laugh. Her action scenes are nicely done. Nandish Sandhu is reliable. Anurag Sinha, who was remembered for his role in Subhash Ghai's BLACK & WHITE [2008], is a pleasant surprise in this show and leaves a strong impression. Sharad Kelkar is cast well and always gives a good performance. However, his role is very similar to the villain in Neeraj Pandey’s SPECIAL OPS 2. In fact, both characters are almost like two sides of the same coin. Zoya Afroz looks great and her acting is of high quality; she is an actor who deserves more attention. Freddy Daruwala, Akash Ayyar (playing Custom Officer Kulvir Dhuria), Jameel Khan (playing Suresh Kaka), Hemant Kher (playing Customs Officer Patel) and Virendra Saxena (playing Srikant Saxena) all support the show well. Akshaya Nauk (playing Swati Salunkhe) is very good. Chirag Pandya (playing Siddharth Gupta; a VIP who is stopped) is only in the show for a short time, but his performance is still remembered. Hrishikesh Joshi (playing Customs Officer Aabhas Pawar), Anuja Sathe (playing Meenakshi; Ravinder's love interest), Krishan Tandon (playing Sharma ji; Choudhary's manager), Shahid Lateef (playing Arbab), Ujjawal Gauraha (playing COIN Officer Govind), Shubham Kumar (playing Mukeem) and Pradeep Bhaskar (playing Aslam) all do a good job. Sumit Nijhawan (playing Anna) and Ekavalli Khanna (playing Mrs Syed) don't have much to do.
Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web music and other technical aspects:
TASKAREE: THE SMUGGLER’S WEB is a show with no songs.
Advait Nemlekar's background music is quirky and cinematic. Sudheer Palsane and Arvind Singh's cinematography is stunning. Sandeep Sharad Rawade's set designs are realistic and stand out. Falguni Thakore's costumes are authentic. The same goes for Abbas Ali Moghul and Cyril Raffaelli's action scenes. Praveen Kathikuloth's editing is smooth and effective.
Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web Review Conclusion:
Overall, TASKAREE: THE SMUGGLER’S WEB is a unique show about customs and smuggling.
It impresses with its light-hearted story, comedic and dramatic moments, some surprises, and strong performances by the main cast. However, the show doesn't reach its full potential because of loose ending and a weak climax. Despite this, the fresh subject and great casting should lead to a good number of viewers.
Rating – 3 stars.
