'Bhaukaal', a gory story of crime and death

MX Player, which shot into prominence with the web series 'Queen' on the life and times of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa in December last has a slew of new web series episodes to suit the homebound viewers in these days of lockdown. 'Bhaukaal' is one among them, which focuses on the state of affairs in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh, notably in the western region of the state in a town called Muzaffarnagar.

A duty-conscious, uncompromising police officer's adventures form the nucleus of this 10- part web series, based on true events. Mohit Raina, who became popular for his Lord Shiva role on the small screenplays the uncompromising SSP Navin Sikhera, who is sent to the 'crime capital of India' on promotion and punishment posting. He meets with phenomenal resistance not only from the warlords entrenched in that town but also an indifferent constabulary who are afraid to take the evil elements head-on.

With a total running time of over five hours, endowed with a distinct western UP dialect, the episodes keep one engrossed as the see-saw battle between the good and bad guys go on till the climax. With noted villain Abhimanyu Singh playing the don's role and also as the main antagonist, the pace of the episodes is crisp and the narrative is interesting, even though very disturbing for its raw language at times. Bidita Bag plays the bad man's mistress convincingly, carving out her own space amidst the gun-toting gangsters.