Last week, right after ‘Tandav’ released, many online reviewers compared the show to Hollywood’s ‘House of Cards’. We wished we didn’t see those headlines because when we watched ‘Tandav’, there was an automatic comparison to ‘House of Cards’ happening for every scene and every character.
Trailer of Tandav:
Prior to this, we were looking forward to watch this political drama when the trailer released. There are two topics that we don’t understand: politics and stock exchange. So to watch something about the ins and outs and how dirty politics can be is exciting but as far the anything related to the stock exchange goes, we still don’t get it.
Since its release, ‘Tandav’ has managed to create a controversy with a particular political party. Apparently, there’s a scene in the film that hurt religious sentiments. We don’t know which one and why since we don’t see the world and its people like that. But it’s funny how they didn’t find the depiction of police specifically finding and killing two Muslim boys, as ordered by the higher-ups in politics, offensive!
After watching ‘Tandav’ one episode after the other, we have come to the conclusion that Tandav is thanda. Yes, despite their attempts to create something hot and fresh, it just ends up cold. Compared to the ‘House of Cards’, ‘Tandav’ is … (how you say in English):
What Tandav is about…
There’s nothing special or new with ‘Tandav’. Maybe a few scenes here and there but you have probably seen it all from Hollywood and Indian films like ‘Rajneeti’, Yuva, and so on. The makers had the right cast and most probably, the budget to create a kind of show that could have been fresh and interesting but all we get is something that feels familiar.
Long story short…
Saif poisons his dad who is India’s PM because HE wants to be the prime minister. We didn’t know that’s actually a thing, like the PM’s son can take over as the PM as soon as the father dies just because they are in the same political party though this is the case with the royal family. Saifu is married to Sarah Jane Dias and they have a teenage daughter who makes three appearances on the show. Dimple is Saifu’s stepmom and SHE wants to be PM also and actually gets to be PM in this season by just threatening Saifu. This is the political aspect of the show.
Now onto the youth part…
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is a student at VNU who is pushed to do something for the country that benefits the people instead of what the current government (Saif’s party) is doing. Right by Zeeshan’s side is fellow student Kritika Kamra and right by her side is Dino Morea and right by Dino’s side is Sandhya Mridul who are both professors at VNU.
Since this is a political drama, it would be incomplete without illicit affairs between the characters and ‘Tandav’ doesn’t disappoint. The ones cheating on the show are proof that you can have your cake and eat it too!
But the thing is, all this feels like a déjà vu. We get the sense that the makers wanted to create a shocking storyline, something that will make the viewers go crazy and stay glued to the show like it happened with ‘Mirzapur’ and ‘Sacred Games’. Sadly, it doesn’t happen here despite their attempts to create drama by adding a kind of background score that is supposed to get you excited about the twists and turns but it falls flat, honestly-speaking.
A stellar cast
The good thing about ‘Tandav’ is the cast, a good-looking cast at that. There’s the lovely Dimple Kapadia who looks great, Saif Ali Khan who appears dashing, and Sarah Jane Dias who looks very pretty. This is what we thought at first then we realized that the reason they all look good is because they are powerful and are freaking rich on the show and as you know or Chris Rock once said, “Money is the best lotion!” You can see the effort and money that went into styling these characters to make them look the part! As for the ex-model Dino Morea, he is unrecognizable with his long beard and it was strange seeing him in a character role after a long time.
We know that most people will be praising Sunil Grover on this show. Since we were ready for a bunch ‘House of Cards’ similarities, Sunil Grover’s character is called Gurpal Chauhan on the show and his portrayal of this character is very similar to Michael Kelly’s Doug Stamper and ‘Banshee’s Burton who wore glasses and only removed them when he’s about to do something nasty. Gurpal Chauhan keeps a stern face throughout the show with only two sarcastic laughing scenes that seemed unnecessary and forced. He smokes throughout in almost every scene of his which means that, unlike Doug, Gurpal will most likely die of lung disease! Unless he gets poisoned by Saifu first!
So the only character that’s meant to be a game changer and make you terrified didn’t do it for us since Doug Stamper and Burton did it first.
Speaking of ‘House of Cards’, the ending of this season of ‘Tandav’ feels like the ending of one of HOC’s seasons with the intention of making the audience excited for the next season.
Now with all the drama that happened off screen, the makers will have to be extremely careful and walk on eggshells for season two. The political backlash on season one will make it hard for them to forget.
Isn’t it appalling, though, that people get mad about these kinds of scenes but don’t bother with rape scenes or scenes where children and women are sexually harassed and abused? Or even nudity, which is mostly the women doing it and not that many men. That’s only onscreen, what about the real things that are affecting the citizens in reality?
‘Tandav’ is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and stars Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Dino Morea, Kritika Kamra, Sukhmani Sadana, Sarah Jane Dias, Kumud Mishra, Gauhar Khan, and Anup Soni.
You can watch the newly-edited ‘Tandav‘ on Amazon Prime now!
Did you manage to catch ‘Tandav’ yet? Like or hate it?
FYI, we also watched ‘Death in Bollywood’ & ‘The Serpent’ and might discuss them next week.
And just for laughs: