Saas Bahu aur Flamingo ( Disney Hotstar Series / Crime Drama)
Director – Homi Adajania
Writers- Sourav Day, Karan Vyas, Nandini Gupta, Aman Mannan
Cast – Dimple Kapadia, Isha Talwar, Angira Dhar, Radhika Madan, Varun Mitra, Ashish Verma, Deepak Dobriyal, Udit Arora, Naseeruddin Shah, Jimit Trivedi
Drug cartels, gang rivalry, police and politicians, barren badlands of western border, a haveli that holds a family and many secret vibes ! Heard before. Right ?
Now add to this – An all women gang, A feisty don and saas, her bold and beautiful bahus and beti, all set in beautiful rustic setting, in the most gorgeous ethnic looks, with guns, knives ,action and lots and lots of spunk !
Now That sets aside the show ! And also the fact that the men had to leave their first row seats for this one. Of course they are present, some of them as loyal side kicks, some looking absolutely lame and providing comic relief and some being worthy opponents but being beaten at their game.
The novelty value ,that the writers have achieved by reversing the gender roles, is the trump card of the show even though the basic plot line is much seen before. The way they have etched and portrayed the four central leads, they have you wrapped around their fingers. While there are twists, turns and revelations, there are certain implausibilities, logical loopholes and sometimes lags too. But the flaws are taken in stride and we remain totally invested while our gutsy ladies kick, kill and combat it out.
Their next achievement is their cast which looks smashing.
Dimple ( Savitri), as the matriarch of a drug cartel which she runs with dogged control, rules the show like a queen. Her character wears complex shades and she portrays them like wow ! She’s sharp, shrewd , mysterious, ruthless, maternal and most of all fiesty as hell. In her action avatar, she looks ferocious. She looks absolutely gorgeous in every frame.The show belongs to her, through and through.
Isha Talwar and Angira Dhar play her bahus . They both look smouldering hot in their canny and conniving avatars and you would see them in the most impressive ethnic chic ensembles. I found their performances impressive.
Varun Mitra and Ashish Verma play her sons.Varun seems slightly lost in this new lame avatar, so vastly different from the sharp lawyer he played in Guilty minds.
Ashish Verma deserves an applause for playing the nincompoop to the core. He single handedly provides the comic element of the show while you go ’tch tch tch “ watching his antics all the while.
Radhika Madan plays the sassy daughter, displays some impressive action chops but there’s something about her dialogue delivery and portrayal of characters that seems repetitive.
Udit Arora as Dhiman, looks good and promising in his quiet role.
Deepak Dobriyal in his second negative role after Bholaa, seems to be on a roll playing grey. He looks quite menacing.
The milieu looks beautiful , the ensembles look great and the dialects seem authentic which I didn’t notice slipping ever. These elements add to the earthy feel of the show.
Action sequences have been pretty well choreographed and were a pleasure to watch. Most of them are in combat style, a refreshing change from “over the top” and “everything flying in the air” kind of action that we are being over-fed in films these days.
Worth recommending for many reasons as mentioned above, the show is a must watch for Dimple fans. This savvy Savi would sweep you off the floor !Watch it for these women who smash more than just the gender template !