Shodha series review: Khoj remake is a far superior thriller with an engaging and logical narrative

Shodha series story: Shortly after Rohit (Pawan Kumar), a lawyer, reports his wife Meera missing, he meets with a minor accident. When he regains conscience, his ‘wife’ is back, but he insists that the woman claiming to be Meera (Siri Ravikumar) is not who she says she is. No one’s buying his protestations, though, because everyone, including Meera’s sister Aditi (Anusha Ranganath) and Rohit’s daughter Tara, say there’s no foul play and that Rohit’s probably forgotten her owing to a brain injury he sustained. But is that really what’s going on?

Shodha series review: A few days after the trailer of Shodha , Z5’s latest Kannada web series came out, reports emerged that the show was a remake. The makers had apparently picked a Hindi show that’s on the streamer – Khoj Parchaiyo Ke Uss Paar – and given it a local spin. This came as a bit of a surprise, given that leading man Pawan Kumar had also been credited as ‘script doctor’, indicating his involvement in the writing.

Watching the 6-episode original starring Sharib Hashmi was, excruciating, to say the least. The basic premise revolves around the protagonist’s missing wife and if the person who then reappears is really her or an imposter, as he claims. All 6 episodes are dedicated to Sharib’s efforts to find proof for what he believes to be true, with the final reveal coming very late in the day.

In Shodha, though, Pawan and the team have rectified a lot of the plot holes that the source material had and changed things up for a far more engaging narrative that actually makes sense. His character Rohit is a lawyer and his knowledge of the law and how to use it to his benefit is explored nicely. Anusha Ranganath’s character gets a major upgrade in the Kannada version and is not the blink and you miss treatment that was in the offering in the original.

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The ever-dependable Siri is solid in the ‘is she Meera or not’ portions of the story, but then wobbles when her identity is revealed. But that’s not her fault; it’s in the writing, which does not offer her much to do. That bit could have been done a lot better. And the best way to make that happen would have been by doing away with the portions featuring Saptami Gowda. It offers absolutely no value add. Arun Sagar, as the police officer investigating the disappearance of Rohit’s wife, is wasted, although it was refreshing to see the actor in a more serious onscreen demeanour.

Pawan’s involvement in the scripting is very evident, especially as far as his character’s actions and motivations go. If the same care had gone into the police investigation portions too, Shodha would have been even more engaging. The way it is now is not bad at all. A major upgrade from the source material and a step in the right direction as far as quality of content goes for the streamer, after its debut show Ayyana Mane .

Also read: Ayyana Mane series review: Ramesh Indira's murder mystery does not rise above routine TV soap standards 

Shodha series verdict: Engaging and entertaining were the two key buzzwords that Pawan and co worked with in the making of Shodha and they've more or less delivered on that promise. Could it have been better? Of course, but then, this is a good start, and hopefully, the beginning of a lot more good to come.