Review ‘KULL – The Legacy of Rayasinghani’: An Emotionally Hollow Royal Saga

By Shantiswarup Tripathi

• Rating:  2 Stars
• Producers: Ekta Kapoor & Shobha Kapoor
• Writers: Althea Kaushal and Tarana Raja
• Director: Sahir Raza
• Cast: Nimrat Kaur, Riddhi Dogra, Amol Parashar, Rohit Tiwari, Ankit Siwach, Ravika Duggal, Shivani Bhardwaj, Tarun Chaturvedi, Shweta Soni, Gaurav Arora, Rahul Vohra, and others
• Duration: Eight episodes of 31 to 36 minutes each, total runtime approx. 4.5 hours
• OTT Platform: JioCinema (JioStar)

Post-independence, the princely states of India ceased to hold power. The royal families that remain are fragmented, where familial ties often mask bitter rivalries and personal ambitions. The once-proud legacies of these houses crumble when confronted with hidden rivalries and long-buried secrets, threatening to destroy the fragile bonds holding them together.

Director Sahir Raza’s web series KULL streams from May 2 on JioStar and attempts to depict this complex cocktail of crime, murder, deceit, personal revenge, and political gamesmanship. The tone is set with a poignant line from Kavya, the youngest daughter, who asks her siblings, “Aakhri baar humne kab chain se chai pi thi?”

Storyline

The web series "Kull" is based on the story of a royal family from Bikaner, Rajasthan. According to the constitution, the elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan is Jogi Panchwada (Rohit Tiwari), but the center of power lies with Raja Chandra Pratap Raisinghani (Rahul Vohra) of Bikaner and his palace, ‘Raisinghani Mahal,’ which is on the verge of being leased to a hotel group due to heavy debt. This deal is set to take place on Raja Pratap’s 75th birthday.

The Raja’s children – Indrani (Nimrat Kaur), Kavya (Riddhi Dogra), Abhimanyu (Amol Parashar), and Brij (Gaurav Arora), who is the illegitimate son – come together for this event. Tensions arise as they confront each other, with Kavya and Brij living with the Raja, with Kavya taking most of the responsibility. The 75th birthday celebration attracts many guests, and a channel sends Kabir (Arslan Goni) from Mumbai to cover the event. Kabir and Kavya share a romantic relationship, and after the event, Kavya plans to leave for Mumbai with him.

Indrani, the Raja's eldest daughter, is married to Vikram (Suhas Ahuja), the son of Chief Minister Jogi Panchwada. Vikram, who is gay, has no objections to Indrani’s sexual relationships with other people. This arrangement is tolerated by Vikram due to political reasons – Raja's influence in Bikaner has ensured that Jogi gets votes, and both Vikram and his father have their eyes set on the Raja's palace. Indrani tries to play the role of a peacemaker. Meanwhile, the youngest son, Abhimanyu, who has a history of addiction and whose mother died giving birth to him, is treated with sympathy by Indrani.

Brij, who is blindly loyal to the family, is treated dismissively by Indrani and Abhimanyu. As the Raja’s birthday party begins, he wants to apologize to his late wife, Madhura, in front of everyone and confess his truth, but Jogi doesn’t want this to happen. During the party, the Raja confesses that his children are planning to kill him. Later that night, his lifeless body is found in the palace swimming pool, and the search for the murderer begins.

Following the Raja's death, Chief Minister Jogi orders Manu, a police officer loyal to him, to investigate. In accordance with tradition, Abhimanyu immediately declares himself the new King of Bikaner and announces that the Raja will not have a post-mortem. Suspicion falls on Abhimanyu for the murder, but Indrani and the maid burn clothes found in Abhimanyu’s room to destroy evidence.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jogi focuses on running the state and asserts that it's time to stand with his family rather than govern the state. However, things take a turn when a CBI officer arrives to investigate the murder. The CBI officer rejects Abhimanyu’s claims and continues the investigation. Kabir, who is filming a documentary on the royal family, has video evidence that could reveal the identity of the murderer.

In episode 4, the truth about the murderer is uncovered. Vikram, upset at not being made the deputy chief minister, sends footage of Jogi’s involvement in the Raja’s murder to the CBI officer. As a result, Jogi is arrested and sent to jail. Vikram prepares to sit on the chief minister’s chair, but Jogi, even from jail, works to thwart Vikram’s plans and tries to make it difficult for him to become the chief minister.

Review

Despite a fast pace, the series struggles with an inconsistent and scattered narrative. While each episode clocks in at under 40 minutes, the character arcs remain emotionally underdeveloped. KULL touches on compelling themes like generational trauma and loyalty, but its treatment is often shallow, rarely venturing into psychological depth.

The writing falters on several fronts. Framed murders, conveniently discovered secrets, and rapid power shifts stretch credibility. The lack of logic becomes a major hurdle—especially post-Episode 4, where the killer is revealed, and the story takes a bizarre turn with little clarity or payoff.

The character Brij is poorly developed, and even his narrative closure feels incomplete. Abhimanyu’s cocaine addiction is left unexplained. These gaps are jarring in a series that aspires to be a dark family epic.

Director Sahir Raza leans heavily on grand visuals: sweeping palace shots, regal costumes, and formulaic dialogues about honor and legacy. However, there's little originality in his storytelling.

Performances

In the role of Indrani, actress Nimrat Kaur, known for her performance in Lunchbox, fits the character to some extent, but her role is not written well enough to showcase her full potential. Nimrat Kaur is adept at portraying silent strength, but the character of Indrani fails to bring out this quality fully.
Amol Parashar plays the role of Abhimanyu, and he has given his all to portray such a despicable character that the audience could easily develop hatred for him. We are fans of Amol’s acting, and his talent was evident in Sardar Udham and more recently in the film Sweet Dreams. However, in this series, his acting talent doesn't shine as brightly. The director has taken Abhimanyu's character too far into melodrama, making him an extremely unstable and exaggerated character. As a result, the audience fails to feel any sympathy for him, which weakens the impact of his role.

Suhaas Ahuja, playing the role of Vikram, has delivered a restrained and well-balanced performance. Riddhi Dogra, portraying Kavya, successfully conveys her character’s determination and strong will on screen.

However, Rohit Tiwari's portrayal of Chief Minister Jogi is disappointing. He fails to bring the planned and strategic nature of Jogi’s character to life, leaving the audience with a lackluster impression of the role.

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