ZEE5’s Lalbazaar: A must watch, one of the finest thrillers in recent times

Since the time Ajay Devgn announced the show and released the poster along with the trailer, Lalbazaar had caught the fancy of many who love good police dramas. Does it live up to the hype, and is it worth watching?

The answer is a resounding ‘yes’! Lalbazaar as a police drama manages to pull off the fine balance between action and emotion, something that a lot of thrillers struggle to. What it does beautifully is not dwell only on the procedural side of the police, but focus on their human side, which makes for some fantastic character building throughout. The fight between good and evil is the oldest trope in storytelling, and Lalbazaar manages to capture the best parts of it and make a riveting series out of it, which should be on your must-watch list for sure.

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The show grabs you by the throat right from the start, and doesn’t let go. It begins with an explosion, a nightmare, and a murder that becomes the central piece of the entire story. And that is just the first five minutes of the show! The pace is relentless and the story keeps chugging ahead with breakneck speed in spite of a barrage of characters being introduced in the mix.

This show, based in Lalbazaar in Kolkata, revolves around a team of 5 cops working in the homicide department. The hierarchy within the team is established quickly, but the slow unravelling of the characters in themselves is what makes the show as fascinating. The cops are thrust into the world of red light areas, criminal king pins, rival police officers, and the main plot:  a serial killer who has a penchant for creating a scene with these killings every time.

When the plot is as thick as Lalbazaar, it is very easy to get lost in the makings of it, and the characters are left to their own devices. But Lalbazaar manages to make it more of a human study than just a cop thriller. Each of the characters is faced with not only the obstacles laid out in front of them but are also trying to escape demons of their own. This narrative is brilliantly manifested on screen by some of the finest actors on screen. Led by Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Koushik Sen, Sauraseni Maitra, Rob Dey, Vijay Singh, Anirban Chakrabarty, and Hrishita Bhatt along with a stellar supporting cast, the show revels in the chemistry between the actors. Sabyasachi plays his role to aplomb and manages to be convincing every time he is on screen. Kaushik Sen plays the brazen, unpredictable officer with a temper to the T, while complementing Sabyasachi in the best way possible. Their chemistry is something you’ll be talking about once you are done with the series. Dibyendu Bhattacharyya as Ghazi is menacing and has an amazing screen presence. Ronjini Chakrabarty as the feisty red light area worker is also one of the more fascinating characters you would come across in recent times.

While a lot is going on in the world currently around cops and how they conduct themselves, this show manages to drag your attention towards the human side of cops. It manages to create an emotional core to each of them, and through it weaves a fine, hard-hitting story of life and pain, crime and punishment, and the nuances and layers that are at play when justice is involved.

All in all, Lalbazaar is a brilliantly crafted web series and keeps you engrossed through its 10 episode run. Binge-worthy, as they say. We give it a 4/5 from our end.

You can watch the show on ZEE5 right now. We highly recommend that you do!

This is a partnered post.