REVIEW PANDU (Marathi)

Producers- R.M. Rajesh Kumar

Directors- Sarang Sathaye and Anusha Nandkumar

Star Cast- Suhas Sirsat, Deepak Shirke, Trupti Khamklar, Abish Mathew and Prasad Reddy

Genre- Social

Rating- ***

Emotional & Touching!

Jyothi  Venkatesh

For the uninitiated, Pandu is the name given by Mumbai citizens to the local police, in this short 6 episode web series by MX Player where the directors have explained day to day life of a normal police officer and his constable. Although they work hard for their livelihood, they are not being accorded their legitimate due.

The web series written by Noel Cordeiro, Omkar Jadhav and Gaurav Pawar revolves around the life and times of the cops and how they have to face music in their families thanks to their extra ordinary commitment to their jobs. The best thing about this series is that it is not at all like the conventional story about cops but it is a cute and emotional one time watch, which talks about the trials and tribulations of the police force and does not necessarily glorify their lives like in films.

The series which sets out to explore the humane side of the cops genuinely without making fun of them will certainly go a long way to help you get an entirely different and what’s more very dynamic perspective on police men and their perseverance 24/7 in their day to day lives.

Suhas Shirke plays the role of PSI Kamble with aplomb but it is Deepak Shirke who essays the role of the hawildar Gaekwad who steals the scene with his inherent humor and makes the series very human with his magic touches. Girija Oak also shines in her small cameo role as the elite hi fi social worker Mrs Sinha

In general, Hindi cinema has generally portrayed only two categories of cops – either the larger-than-life characters like Chulbul Pandey from the Dabangg series and Bajirao Singham or the utterly realistic like ones like Anant Velankar from Ardha Satya or Amit Kumar from Gangaajal, but what distinguishes the web series Pandu is that it sets out to show a third dimension hitherto unseen in films or TV serials or web series of the Mumbai cops.

Like the PSI Kamble is human enough like you and I and actually wants to take his kid and go to his parents-teachers’ meeting or fight with his wife at home when he does not get even a biscuit when he rummages through the kitchen and angrily leaves home without a Tiffin box she generally gives him but becomes emotional when the domesticated housewife arranges to send him his usual Tiffin to his police station, though they have a fight in the morning when he leaves the house for office.

The best thing about this MX Player series is that at a time when every OTT platform sets out only to take advantage of the fact that there is absolutely no censorship clause, as far as OTT platform is concerned, this series does not have even a single scene which sets out to titillate He wants to bring up his kid and go to his parents-teachers’ meeting titillate the viewers

Kudos to directors Sarang Sathaye as well as Anusha Nandkumar for having worked hard enough to explore the nuances of the hard working cops instead of just pinpointing their negative shades as usual