WEB SERIES REVIEW HUNDRED

Producers- Ashutosh Shah, Taher Shabbir, Ruchi Narain and Neelesh Bhatnagar.

Directors- Ruchi Narain, Ashutosh Shah and Taher Shabbir

Star Cast- Lara Dutta, Rinku Rajguru, Parmeet Sethi, Sudanshu Pandey, Hrishikesh Joshi, Rohini Hattangadi , Suyash Zunjurke, Rajeev Siddharth, Makrand Deshpande, Arun Nalawade and Karan Wahi

Genre- Thriller

Rating- ***1/2

Platform- Hotstar Disney

Edgy with Twists & Turns!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The story of Hundred revolves around two women Saumya and Netra, who team up to accomplish their personal objectives. Hundred does not only mean  that the leading lady and Netra both work for the police but also because Netra has only 100 days more to live. Saumya Shukla aka Sam (Lara Dutta) is an unapologetic individual living on her own terms, who doesn’t mind using her closer one for her own benefit. She wants to prove her capability in the male-dominated profession but is never given an opportunity despite having a strong personality and position in the police force as ACP where she is at times asked to dance as an item number girl in a civil function.

Netra (Rinku Rajguru of Sairaat fame) is a selfless, honest and cute government servant working in the Census office and the only wage earner in her Maharashtrian middle class family. But her world turns upside down when she learns about her brain tumor and has only hundred more days to live. Netra makes for herself a bucket list deciding to transform her life around and do what she had always wished to do- live life king size. One of the two wishes is to go to Switzerland with her boy friend Aniket (Suyash Zunjurke) before she dies .Yet another wish is to have sex with at least one willing male in her sight.

You can surely feel the bond developed between the kooky adventurer and tough cop. Saumya has to deal with two senior officers, both DCPs. Her immediate quirky boss, Anshuman Goswami (Parmeet Sethi) and Parvin Tambe (Sudhanshu Pandey), her husband and the head of the anti-narcotics wing of the Mumbai police. It is quite refreshing to see the sexual liberation the women enjoy without succumbing to the conventional traditions on screen. Saumya’s infidelity too isn’t given a reason, her sex life oscillating between her husband and her informer on the sly.

While Rinku Rajguru is the life of the series, Lara proves that she is no less than any other big screen actress though she is past her prime. Parmeet Sethi has a half baked role while Sudanshu Pandey impresses. Actors like Rohini Hattangadi, Karan Wahi and Arun Nalawade have been wasted. Though I should concede that the series with eight episodes , each of 40 minutes duration sets out to meander and go off at tangent to the main plot somewhat at times, the highs and lows of the adventures of two spirited women fighting adversity offers enough drama and humor to keep you hooked, thanks to deft direction.