Aranyak review: Raveena Tandon-Parambrata Chatterjee's whodunnit series will keep you on the edge of the seat

3.5/5

After a foreign teenage tourist goes missing in a misty village, Kasturi, a frazzled local cop, is forced to team up with her city-bred successor, Angad, on a high-profile case that unearths skeletons and resurrects a long-forgotten legend of a savage serial killer in the woods.

I think it's been three years since a series on Netflix India caught my attention to the fullest. First, it was the Sacred Games, and now it's Aranyak. The new show on the streaming platform is in the whodunit genre and stays true to it in the first six episodes. With this series, Raveena Tandon makes her OTT debut, and this is undoubtedly the perfect one to start a new chapter in her life.

The premise of the series is simple: a killer is on the loose after a foreign girl is brutally killed and hung high on a tree in the jungle. As Kasturi Dogra (Raveena) is going on leave for a year, the case falls into her precinct. She is extremely sad that the day coincides, as she has always been waiting for one such case during her career. The case is then taken over by Angad Mallik (Parambrata Chatterjee), who is a city-bred cop.

Eventually, they get together to solve the case, which gets deeper and deeper. The whole story is set against the backdrop of a mystical place called Sironah, which also plays an important character in the series. But it's Raveena and Parambrata as Kasturi and Angad that take the story forward.

While solving the mystery, they cross paths with many people who are the residents of Sironah and carry their secrets. It's the silly arguments between them that bring a few lighter moments in the series. Kasturi knows her town inside and out and trusts a lot of people. This comes from a personal approach during the case and a conflict of interest with Angad.

The screenplay by Charudutt Acharya, who has earlier penned Dum Maaro Dum and Vaastu Shastra, among others, has written a compelling script that will make you move on to the next episode at that very instant. For me, that's a winner when a series prompts you to binge-watch effortlessly.

Apart from having a killer on the run, there's also a mystery behind Nar-Tendua (Leopard Man), which has been going on for years in Sironah. This sub-plot will remind you of the infamous Kaala Bandar in Delhi, which was also shown in the film Delhi 6.

A bunch of characters and several mysteries make for a gripping watch in Aranyak and just like Kasturi and Angad, you will also be engrossed in knowing who is the killer.

The way Vinay Waikul has directed the series, these two characters act as a set of eyes for the viewers. We read between the lines and sometimes see what they are not. Moreover, there are instances when their guesses are as good as ours, which puts the viewers, Kasturi and Angad, on the same page.

Playing a cop based out of a small town comes with its challenges, which have been beautifully shown in Aranyak. Although she is respected thoroughly at her job, to have a balanced personal life, Kasturi decides to take a step back from her work. However, that does no good for her household. I liked the way they showed honesty in the series, like Kasturi being unable to handle the kitchen duties like basic cooking, and it's her teenage daughter who takes charge.

She doesn't have a supportive husband, played by Vivek Madan, who only sees her as a woman who should be shackled inside her house. But Kasturi is not the one to bow down. She proves that location and household do not decide how a woman should be independent. It's the woman who does it, with her determination.

However, she has an extremely supportive father-in-law, played by Ashutosh Rana, and their bond is impeccable to watch. The mentor-mentee portrayal is pretty unconventional and that's the way Kasturi describes it too. And Rana is top-notch as a mysterious and smart retired cop.

Raveena's great presence onscreen is a visual delight as the actor leaves no stone unturned in getting undivided attention from the viewers. She gets the Pahadi accent right and also looks like the part of a tough cop for whom her job is her religion. Her performance will remind you of the times when she starred in 'women-centric' films such as Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence and Shool.

Coming to Parambrata, the actor is calm and composed as a cop which is more or less like his character Rana in Kahaani. The cop role blends well with the Bengali actor, and his charm is something to watch out for.

The other supporting cast, most of them, carry a mysterious aura and will even make you doubt them constantly as a potential killer. Zakir Hussain and Megna Malik are top-notch as the head-honchos or literal owners of Sironah. Their past work is evident that they are up to no good even in this series. So is Indraneil Sengupta, who is shown as an underrated character.

What makes Aranyak better than many other Netflix content is not that it's something new to be witnessed. But there's a freshness and thrillingness to the series that is decently made.

Whodunnit is a genre that can never be done and dusted. The Raveena Tandon and Parambrata Chatterjee starrer Aranyak is another one to join the bandwagon and make for a compelling watch.