Mistry Is A Soulless Adaptation Of Monk

THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE of the Hindi language streaming space is so dire that for every bad show, there is something worse waiting in the wings. This not just complicates comparisons but makes objective criticism impossible. For every “this is really the worst show” thought in your head, there is another informed thought that counters with “but don’t you remember that?” Mistry, the new JioHotstar show, is a little of this and that. Which is to say, it is an objectively bad series, but a worse series than it exists.

Directed by Rishab Seth, Mistry is the remake of the popular American drama Monk. And while Seth reimagines it in an Indian setting, he also waters down everything fun in the procedural drama, making a damp squib of a series. The premise is the same: a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder, grappling with the sudden death of his wife, helps the police force to solve cases. Much of the allure of Monk resided in its character development and in using humour not as a means to make light of mental illness, but as a vessel to make it accessible. Mistry goes for cheap thrills.

Armaan Mistry (Ram Kapoor) is perturbed by everything. Crumbs on the floor, pencils not arranged in order, dirt on the walls, the sight of someone eating sloppily. Sharanya (Shikha Talsania) is his caretaker-cum-nurse. A single mother, she follows him around with a box of tissues and promptly hands him out whenever Armaan cowers in annoyance. He is soon called by the Mumbai Police for help. Although ACP Sehmat Siddiqui (Mona Singh) and her subordinate Bunty (Kshitish Date) are not thrilled by it, they soon realise they need the help. Mistry might not be the easiest person to be around, but he is the sharpest person in the room.

This, of course, is a borrowed premise; the execution is the point. Seth’s series goes about this in the most dull-witted way possible. Across the eight episodes, the writing does nothing to confirm Mistry’s intelligence. Instead, it tries to prove it by portraying every single character as foolish. It goes on for so long that it begs the question: how did anyone, especially Sehmat, get this job if they are so bad at it? For instance, in one episode, they track down a supposed contract killer only to find the latter sitting in a wheelchair. Sehmat Singh (looking justifiably disinterested) believes the ploy and leaves the spot in seconds. It is Mistry, however, who takes a pause and notices the man’s dust-covered shoes. Granted, this is a revelation, but I am afraid, not of what the makers intended it to be.

In fact, at every point, all of them are reduced to bystanders to Mistry’s alleged genius. None of them comes up with a half-intelligent idea. They either commend the protagonist or are annoyed at him. In one scene, Sehmat asks Mistry what it is that he does that they don’t. The answer would be nothing. Everyone in Mistry goes through the motions of finding themselves in a silly set-up, only for a sillier reveal to strike them in their heads.

Kapoor, otherwise a likeable actor, is strictly serviceable here. His shirts are buttoned up right till the neck, and he brings a funny physicality to the role through the grimaces and scowls. But there is little to do even for him. All Kapoor does is pretend to think and then shakes his hand to say the four dreaded words, “the case is cracked”.

Mistry is no different from the other soulless adaptations currently on the streaming site. That they keep getting made speaks more of the creative crisis we are in than the inadequacy of the filmmaker, and that the series exists makes others look good or bad in comparison, depending on the one you are looking at.

Mistry is currently streaming on JioHotstar.

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