Search The Naina Murder Case review: A brilliant Konkona Sen Sharma is let down by a show pandering to OTT cliches
Search The Naina Murder Case review
Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Surya Sharma, Shiv Pandit, Shraddha Das, Iravati Harshe, Sagar Deshmukh
Director: Rohan Sippy
Rating: ★★★
Rohan Sippy’s Search: The Naina Murder Case manages to score one big win with its audience. It forces you to put your phone down. In an era where largely all streaming content is consumed in a passive way while you eat, cook (or even work), this show demands your attention. Partly, it is because of the gripping narrative that Rohan Sippy creates, and partly because of the magic that Konkona Sen Sharma brings on screen. Yet, the combination of the two is not enough to make this show stand out from the countless others in this genre on Indian streaming.
ACP Sanyukta Das (Konkona Sen Sharma) is on her way out of the crime cell for a more ‘relaxed’ posting in cybercrime. This will allow her to focus more on her crumbling family and long-distance husband. But even as her replacement, a cocky ACP Jai Kanwal (Surya Sharma) arrives to relieve her, the gruesome murder of a teenager holds her back. Now Sanyukta has to race against the clock to unwind this murder mystery, which has ties to a local politician (Shiv Pandit), even as the girl’s parents try to launch their own investigation.
Search is a show that does not waste time, neither in exposition nor in stretching the plot. It dives right into the murder and the investigation, while also giving some scope to set up the characters’ backstories. It peels off layer after layer from the mystery like any good whodunnit should. The start is good.
Konkona Sen Sharma, in a rare assertive role, does well. As the cop who is struggling to balance work and family, she epitomises the Gen X parents’ struggle with raising teenagers in a world where technology has surpassed them. She does well to bring the fears of the parent and the concern of the police officer together. Surya Sharma is the other star, making Jai as annoying as he can, but never making him a caricature. He is a cop with a heart, and one that has watched too many movies.
Iravati Harshe, as the dead girl’s mother, is splendid. She brings the much-needed emotional connect and vulnerability to the story. The show never depicts the actual crime or shows it in any graphic detail. Hence, to understand the loss, the parents’ grief needed to come out. Rohan Sippy manages that well with the help of Iravati and Sagar Deshmukh. Shiv Pandit also fares well in a slightly clichéd but well-written role. While Shraddha Das continues to show she can perform when a script allows her to be more than just glamorous.
Yet, despite all its virtues, Search falters, as it begins to pander to the tropes that Indian streaming shows have made their own over the years. The narrative slows down as we near the end, and cliffhangers are thrown in our face. And as the show ends (does it, really?), one is left wondering: Whatever happened to the good old self-contained story where nothing was left to the imagination and no aspect was ‘to be continued’? The lack of conclusion is the biggest pitfall of Search, which nullifies the good work it does in the six episodes before it.
