Netflix’s Choona Review: Heist drama in Indian style with the right twists and turns

Language: Hindi Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Namit Das, Gyanendra Tripathi Creator: Pushpendra Nath Misra Director: Pushpendra Nath Misra Heist thrillers all of a sudden have become very popular in the last few years especially with the digital platform coming in. Netflix’s Choona didn’t start off with a bang, but went rather very slow.  The show started picking up from the third episode. But the moment it started picking up there was absolutely no stopping.  An intelligently made series, Choona has the right proportion of humour, thrill and intelligence. The story of _Choona_ is about an influential gangster turned politician played by Jimmy Sheirgill who believes in astrology. A person who has committed unbelievable crime, but extremely superstitious. A complete black character played by Sheirgill who has made pot loads of money by cheating people. A ruthless man who doesn’t think twice to pull the trigger and kill people, he made enemies too and those in the inner-circle of his friends play an important part in bringing him down and how — that’s what the show talks about. Like a true digital web show, every character play an important role and like all other shows, Choona too is set in the heartland of India. But sometimes, it appears that the content on the digital platform is getting a bit too repetitive with gun giggles, crime and the heartland of India shown in bad light. But, if you ask, how different was Choona and was there anything that was fresh or enlightening about it, then my answer will be ‘yes’. The humour, the dialogue delivery and the craft of each and every actor was up to the mark. The revenge against aspiring CM Avinash Shukla, played by Shergiell is clean with not a drop of blood. The idea of the gang that forms against Shukla has once been crushed under his boots and power to make them the person that they are today. Everybody has a backstory to say and why they want to take revenge against Shukla. The writing by director Pushpendra Nath Misra with Srishti Dubey and Mugdhaa Ranade is something that one cannot stop thinking about. The path taken by them in the heist drama is slightly different from what we have seen in the past laced with loads of humours. The wit and the plot is just too sharp and till the end there is a sense of happiness. But for me when it comes to the acting bit, I feel the real heroes are Namit Das and Chandan Roy who actually goes into the skin of the characters they play or rather I would say the multiple characters that they play. Not giving out much of the story, the treatment of Choona is different and the victory over evil is shown in a very intelligent way. Sometimes you may feel that the series is over stretched with eight episodes. But that is what the magic of web series is all about, it allows the characters to marinate, get properly grilled and then it is served hot. In short, the characters evolve in series and we as audiences relish their metamorphosis and different shades. Arshad Warsi, who is the narrator for the series with his modulation of voice makes the story even more engaging and intense. Netflix’s Choona has shown, yet again, that you don’t need a big star cast to make  a successful show. Getting back to how everybody gangs up against Shukla, Contractor JP (Vikram Kochhar) once a successful man, but his career was crushed under the boots of Shukla and now he drowns his grief in alcohol. Baankey (Gyanendra Tripathi) a promising and honest police man whose career was again smashed by Shukla. Then there is Ansari (Aashim Gulati) who plays a local goon and Triloki (Namit Das) who is a soft-spoken thug. The special guests of the gang are Pandjit Ji (Atul Srivastava) whom Shukla tried to kill and Bishnu (Chandan Roy), Shukla’s brother-in-law who knows everything about Shukla and lives with him in his palace. And we shouldn’t forget the women in the gang without whom, the plot wouldn’t have been successful, Bela (Monika Panwar), Baankey’s sister and Jhumpa (Niharika Lyra Dutt), Trilok’s girlfriend. All of them together make the master plan of doing the robbery in Shukla’s house. As I said Avinash Shukla (Jimmy Sheirgill) is an out and out dark character who believes in God and astrology. His obsession with planetary movements and vastu shastra becomes the cause of his downfall. A god fearing man who thinks that his knowledge in astrology is his strength, but it turns out that it is his actual weakness. A wise man once said, never let your foes and friends know your weakness, Choona is all about discovering one’s weakness and then dooming him for life! Rating:  3 out of 5

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