The mystery web-series has its limitations but still has a few things going for it.
Dark 7 White review: Sumeet Vyas shines as a selfish yet stoic politician
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 24 Nov 2020
Keyur Seta | Mumbai, 25 Nov 2020 18:14 IST
Murder mysteries and political dramas usually do not have much in common. But director Sattvik Mohanty’s Hindi web-series Dark 7 Night merges the two genres. The show is a murder mystery about the killing of a young leader and dedicates equal runtime to the dirty game of politics.
The story is presented in two parallel tracks. In 2019 in Jaipur, Yudhveer Singh Rathore (Sumeet Vyas) is all set to be sworn in as the youngest chief minister of Rajasthan. He hails from a royal family and wears his lineage on his sleeve. But just moments before his swearing-in ceremony, he is killed in a mysterious manner. The case is handed over to the no-nonsense police officer Abhimanyu Singh (Jatin Sarna).
The cop considers seven people close to Yudhveer as suspects: his fiancée Daisy (Nidhi Singh); his public relations (PR) head Neelakshi (Monika Choudhary), whom he always used to his advantage; television news channel owner Greshma (Taniya Kalra), whose channel has been providing him with good coverage; her husband and his lawyer Shashank (Sumit Singh); and his college friends Kush (Kunj Anand), Dhaval (Rachit Bahal) and Yogesh (Shekhar Choudhary).
Generally, in murder mysteries, the victim is innocent and we, as the audience, feel sympathy for them. But that is not the case with Yudhveer, whose womanizing and manipulative ways are evident from the start. And as the story moves into the parallel track in 2009, when Yudhveer and some of the other characters were students, and goes forward from there, you slowly lose any sympathy for the protagonist. He is an arrogant, selfish and ruthless individual who is not above using and discarding anybody to rise up the ranks. The rest of the characters are also grey.
This story required a versatile actor who can display power, arrogance and selfishness and yet maintain a sober and stoic front. Vyas, with his natural flair, ticks all these boxes.
Despite the viewer having no sympathy for Yudhveer, the show still keeps you wondering about the identity of his killer to solve the political puzzle. The fact that each episode is only around 18 minutes long works in the show's favour. This also takes care of the slow pacing around the halfway mark.
However, the murder mystery plot keeps going off track. There are a few incidents and dialogues that fall flat. The show also takes a lot of creative liberties on occasion. For example, one individual commits a couple of murders (not Yudhveer's, of course) without anyone raising the slightest suspicion.
The most crucial aspect in a whodunnit is the solving of the mystery at the end and Dark 7 White scores well here. The identity of the killer is hidden nicely from the audience all along and will take you by surprise when it is finally revealed.
It is during the ending moments that the strong character of the cop Abhimanyu Singh shines brighter. Sarna does a phenomenal job, which will shake off the image of his character Bunty from the Netflix web-series Sacred Games (2018).
Nidhi Singh is renowned for her fine performances. We can add her performance as Daisy to the list. This is just the second major outing for Monika Choudhary after the web-series Apharan (2018). She is a natural, but some actions of her character are difficult to fathom. Kalra, as Greshma, oozes selfishness in every frame. You will love to hate her.
Despite its limitations, Dark 7 White has its moments, especially if you prefer crisp murder mystery shows.
Dark 7 White is being streamed on ALT Balaji and Zee5.