Tandav Review: An Underwhelming Political Tease!

Amazon Prime Video’s new outing is Ali Abbas Zaffar’s political drama titled Tandav. The show is split into nine-episodes of around 35-45 minutes each. The story begins with a long term ruling party eyeing another win in the Central Elections, a father and son at loggerheads for power, and a rising student uproar all entwined into one. The story of politics at the center and that at the college level runs parallelly, with many elements joining one with the other. It is all a game of power with overachieving politicians ready to pull the other one down to hold India’s most powerful office.

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The creators of Tandav have picked up on many real-life instances, characters, and organizations and spun it in a manner where it becomes easy for the audiences to draw parallels. Some scenarios may peeve the audience and will have a polarizing effect. However, if you go in without any preconceived notions, you might enjoy this compact series.

The screenplay of Tandav deserves applause for keeping you hooked from frame to frame. However, the plotline involving college politics could have been edited better to interweave smoothly with the other plotlines of the show. An impactful background score helps in uplifting the scenes to give a wholesome execution. Special mention to A .R. Rahman and Mehboob for recreating the famous Dhaka Laka song that fits in perfectly as a theme here.

Saif Ali Khan is just like a fine wine that gets better with time and does a decent job in bringing Samar Pratap Singh to life. He plays the role of a conniving politician with a little sense of remorse and conscience to the tee. However, we feel that he should have been given more screen time to dish out the acting chops as seen in his recent performances. His scenes with the seasoned Kumud Mishra are some of the best in the show.

Dimple Kapadia, as Anuradha Kishore, puts forth a powerful performance. Her character is ambitious and will leave no opportunity to gain what is rightfully hers. Her rise from a mere karyakarta to the Honorable Prime Minister of India is depicted with clarity and earnestness. Another performance that shines through is Kumud Misra as Gopal Das Munshi, the veteran who came so close but could never reach the PM’s seat. His performance is impactful and has a natural charisma that will leave you delighted.

Unfortunately, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, as Shiva Shekhar, a rising student politician in the VNU Campus, seemed subdued in this ensemble with other supporting performances overpowering his. We have seen the great work put forth by him, and this outing fails to leaves that mark. Also, Sarah Jane Dias, in her role as Ayesha, fails to deliver the character’s emotions as required. She does not have the screen presence that was required by her character.

However, the performances that will leave the most impact in the series are by Sunil Grover as Gurpal, Kritika Kamra as Sana Mir, and Gauhar Khan as Maithili Sharan. Grover’s depiction of Gurpal, Samar’s closest aide and henchman, brings one to the edge of their seat. With his man Friday act, he transforms into a multi-layered character with grey shades crafted to perfection.

Saif Ali Khan and surely makes for a great viewer experience with their camaraderie on screen. Kritika Kamra is an excellent pick for her character as she brings out the turmoil of her character to the audiences with great finesse. Gauhar Khan also deserves special praise for standing her own in front of a legend like Dimple Kapadia and matching her prowess in their scenes together. It was a delight to watch her on-screen.

Ali Abbas Zafar has made his name bringing action thrillers to audiences, and his venture into the political drama genre seems to be a good fit in this first outing from him. This does not mean that the show comes without flaws but the overall impact of the storytelling is something to talk about. The way reality is maneuvered into fiction deserves applause.

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This season of Tandav, however, will leave you underwhelmed since it was a much-anticipated show given the power-packed cast. Even with a fantastic finale episode, it will leave you wanting a little more punch. But if we consider this as a setup for the seasons to follow then it serves its purpose well. Watch ‘Tandav’ on Amazon Prime Video here.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

Images via Amazon Prime Video