The Fame Game review: Madhuri Dixit takes a bow in this facepalm series

2.5/5

Anamika Anand (Madhuri Dixit-Nene), a Bollywood icon, is one of the world's most famous women. When this devoted wife and mother vanishes without a trace, the question "Where is Anamika?" quickly becomes "Who is Anamika?" as the perfectly crafted facade of her life is shattered, revealing hidden truths and painful lies in the life of a global superstar.

In the past few years, there have been several discussions brought to light in terms of Bollywood — nepotism, the comeback of experienced actors, or male actors romancing female actors half their age or more. The Fame Game, in just the first two episodes, talks about anything and everything under the sun that is spoken about when it comes to showbiz. And Madhuri Dixit-Nene is introduced as Anamika Anand, who is living a glamorous life on the outside, with a dark mystery within.

Anamika loves what she does and never misses a chance to say that whatever she is today is only because of her hard work and talent. This emotion that Anamika displays come deep from her heart, possibly mined from Madhuri’s own experience of carving a niche for herself with her incredible talent, for which she is still lauded. The actor is her charming self and it seems like Anamika was meant to be her role.

The Fame Game was previously titled Finding Anamika, and it was more apt! The series surely talks about how being famous comes with a cost. Amid the glitz and glamour, the one who faces the camera flashes is the loneliest of all. The series establishes it well enough. But all the talk comes out into the open only after Anamika is nowhere to be found and the investigation is on for it.

But more than being a movie star, The Fame Game explores Anamika's life as a mother. She has two kids—the daughter's role is played by Muskkaan Jaferi, and Lakshvir Saran as her son. Sanjay Kapoor plays Madhuri's on-screen husband, while Suhasini Mulay plays her on-screen mother.

Let's get to the point: Anamika is shown to have gone missing within the first five minutes of the pilot episode. Soon, a lot of information comes, which takes time to process. This goes on till the second episode, wherein we are bombarded with so many aspects and possibilities behind her going missing.

The series is set over a timeline of six months, but talks go beyond two decades. From the third episode comes the unravelling of the mystery that has been created like a mountain of knots in the first two episodes.

However, it seems like the makers decided to save one movie star from all the problems that a dozen of them might go through. The life of a celeb is never easy, it's true, but the series makes it hard to believe that it can be this tough too.

Every episode ends on a cliffhanger, prompting viewers to click on the next episode. However, the rest of the episode goes from being interesting to being disinteresting and back again.

Sri Rao, who has written the series and is the showrunner, leaves no stone unturned in making Madhuri look pitch-perfect as Anamika Anand. He makes her go through a variety of emotions on screen, and knowing how talented the actor is, she nails it beautifully.

When it comes to an emotional scene, the actor sheds a tear at the drop of a hat. While she similarly shows angst and fearlessness, knowing Madhuri, her charm lies in her smile, which we only see when she faces a camera in the series or when she is with Manav Kaul's character, Manish Khanna.

Kaul’s discovery is something that the entertainment industry should be proud of. The actor makes for a good pairing with Madhuri, and it's indeed a fresh duo to look out for. Interestingly, the Dhak Dhak actor's onscreen outing with Sanjay Kapoor is also a treat to watch and something to be surprised by.

The aspect that is pretty exciting in The Fame Game is the purpose behind Anamika's disappearance. It comes not much as a shock, but weirdly surprising to see the purpose behind it.

Regarding the supporting roles, the casting is stupendous, especially of Rajshri Deshpande as the investigating officer in Anamika Anand's missing case. Going by her line of work in the past decade, The Fame Game seems like a cakewalk for her.

So has Muskkaan Jaferi, who is shown as a "victim" of nepotism and can't deal with the fact that the baggage of her being a star's daughter will always stay with her. She has all the troubles of a teenager: Body image issues along with living under her mother's shadow

The Fame Game is mostly about the moments that are good to watch, but sadly, without gripping execution.

The series calls out Bollywood in the most obvious ways, yet it feels more like a caricature than something you would enjoy while grabbing the popcorn. It has an air of superficiality and hardly touches the surface. There are only topics bouncing off without being taken into action. Sadly, it doesn’t even serve as a distraction from Anamika's being missing.

The Fame Game's saving grace is Madhuri Dixit-NeneThe Fame Game. The series is a mixture of many titles from the recent past, like Aranyak (on Netflix), or Aarya (on Disney+ Hostar).