Smuggling was once the quintessential profession of Bollywood villains in the late 1970s and 1980s. The suave playfulness of those villains (with the bespoke suits and cigar dangling from the corner of the mouth) would go on to be replaced by the gritty violence of underworld ganglords. Which, in turn, would become obsolete in favour of demonizing a particular section of our society, and demonizing historical icons of that said community. Lest we digress, let us just admit it is good to see smuggling returning as the ‘novel’ theme for the Emraan Hashmi-starring Netflix thriller series, “Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web.”
Created by Neeraj Pandey (“Special Ops”), “Taskaree” seems to be reveling in its choice of smuggling as a topic to explore, rather than reveling in the topic itself. This particular pride helps the show initially, as it relishes explaining how the mules/couriers work in tandem to carry the contrabands across the border, with Mumbai International Airport serving as the playground. If you have seen an episode of National Geographic’s “Airport Security,” you would know that ingenuity is often employed in these smuggling schemes. It is, to say the least, intriguing. Emraan Hashmi’s introduction as Customs Officer Arjun Meena involves the capture of one such mule. Entertaining introduction with a touch of dark humor. It establishes Hashmi as the likeable hero who does bend the rules, but cannot be questioned when it comes to integrity.
However, one person is not enough to battle a global smuggling empire that has made Mumbai Airport its key gateway point. The Chowdhury Syndicate, headed by Bada Chowdhury (Sharad Kelkar), works with the efficiency of a multinational corporate organization. To counter that, we have the introduction of the new Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Prakash Kumar (Anurag Sinha). Young and dedicated to stopping smuggling, Prakash enlists Arjun and his two trusted comrades, Ravinder Gujjar (Nandish Sandhu) and Mitali Kamath (Amruta Khanvilkar). Taskaree is “fun” when it has this motley crew of a team foiling clever schemes of the smugglers or explaining how a variety of things pass as high-value assets these days—from cute exotic pets to luxury brands’ ugly-looking dolls.
The seven-episode mini-series, however, could not rely solely on the novelty of its setting. There comes a time when it must leave the comfort of its premise’s unfamiliarity and work on the familiarity of good ol’ storytelling. It does not need to be an elaborate, meticulous study of the dynamic between the opposing sides, like David Simon’s “The Wire.” However, it needs a little more conviction to provide a fresh spin on familiar plot devices. Instead, “Taskaree” leans heavily on repetitive use of stalling and blindsiding techniques. For instance, the number of times Arjun Meena and his team purposefully walk from one corridor to another, from one strategy to another, could fill an entire episode.
Then we have expository flashbacks that always begin with repeating a few seconds of the juxtapositional previous version of the same scene. Stalling while dishing out misdirections. Speaking of deceptions, “Taskaree” has plenty of twists. Perhaps a few too many. Unfortunately, it sways between these twists like it oscillates between color schemes for each location. Totally capricious and inherently arbitrary. And the color grading of the show—highly saturated and starkly stereotypical. You might need sunglasses just looking at the sunny desert secondhand.
Emraan Hashmi seems at ease as the leading man. Stout walking notwithstanding, it is a pleasantly familiar experience to see Hashmi navigating another semi-love story amidst the shadiest of situations. Sharad Kelkar brings world-weary gravitas to his portrayal of Bada Chowdhury, the primary antagonist. Perhaps it was implied that Bada’s heart was no longer in the business. Some of the climactic decision-making as the chief has been disastrously poor. As if he wanted to be caught. The supporting cast of Zoya Afroz, Nandish Sandhu, and Amruta Khanvilkar do their parts well. Special mention for Anurag Sinha’s impeccably impassive performance as Prakash Kumar. It reflects well, especially when he drops the indomitable act.
In the last couple of episodes, “Taskaree” seems out of ideas and time. Consequently, it rushes toward a typical ending where the once-efficiently run Chowdhury Syndicate (and its associates, who hitherto acted with great intelligence) suddenly abandons reason. Where our hero needs the ghost of his friend guiding him toward a fairly obvious deduction. Where, magically, everything falls into place for the good guys. It does not leave you awestruck. It leaves you thinking, “We could do that? Then why did we not do that before?” Despite the intriguing premise and the entertaining, if not sharp, start, Neeraj Pandey could not stick the landing. One twist follows another. One exposition comes after another. To no avail. For nothing can prevent the inevitability of Taskaree becoming a memory of a half-decent thriller.
