'In The Name Of God', the Telugu-language web series, is out on Aha. The 7-episode series has been produced by Suresh Krissna, the director of Rajinikanth's 'Baasha' fame. Is the crime thriller worth a watch? Here we tell you in our review.
Story
Aadhi (Priyadarshi) is a small-town cabbie who is frustrated with leading a simple life. He wants to own a resort. This is also when he lusts after the horny wife of Ayyappa (Posani Krishna Murali). Ayyappa's wife Meena (Nandini Rai) is already in an extra-marital affair with Thomas (Vikas). For some reason, Meena hacks her husband to death. She and Thomas have to save their skin, but the fact that Ayyappa had received hawala money to the tune of Rs 5 Cr just before he was killed, makes their lives complicated overnight.
Vishnu (Chandrakanth Dutta), Fakir (Uma Maheswar Rao) and Rossi (Mohammad Ali Baig) have their eyes on the money. At the end, who wins and who fades out of existence?
Performances
Much was expected from the web series. It's only Priyadarshi who manages to shock the audience. Despite the below-average character development, one must say Vikas is impressive. Nandini Rai flips between looking vulnerable and subtly dangerous. Posani is a caricaturish performer here. Chandrakanth Dutta is able.
The unfamiliar faces (such as Ali Baig) struggle to suck the viewer into the pseudo-thrilling proceedings of the series.
Technical aspects
Deepak Alexandar's music doesn't make the cut. The background score is too subdued to a fault. It wouldn't have been a problem had it been loud at times. Varun DK's cinematography scrapes through, thanks to the production design being underwhelming. With a better staging, the photography might have looked effective.
Analysis
The number of episodes is seven but the number of life-threatening situations in this series must be seventy. Since we are into counting casualties these days, it wouldn't be wrong to count the number of times the characters in the web series use cuss words with great passion. Some epidemiologist interested in bringing bad news could find out that the count is beyond seven hundred. If you are planning to watch 'In The Name Of God' with your family, be prepared to be assaulted by your parents just 10 minutes into the series.
Writer-director Vidyasaagar Muthukumar and show-runner Ranga hardly manage to pack a punch. At more than four and a half hours, the web series induces a pounding headache three episodes into the drama. It's directionless and doesn't give the audience a break. It keeps its very many bland and bad characters on tenterhooks. In the process, the audience screams for a saviour.
When evil money and a dead body are involved in crime dramas, we know that the writing department loves adding one character after another conveniently-written character. The itch is more pronounced in the universe of web series. Smart writers and inventive directors overcome the crisis of content by mounting high-voltage action (in the case of big-ticket, star vehicles) or raw drama (in the case of more intimate ones). 'ING' is neither here nor there. It stages silly fights between sets of two characters in all sorts of dull situations.
The writing comes undone after the third episode. And the viewer is condemned to count the number of people who struggle to emote rage in the process of tyring to lay their hands on Rs 5 Cr. In the series' nth silly scene, a character threatens an old man at random.
There is no hope even in the last two episodes. A character shoots in the dark when even a teenager would have done a better job at rescuing himself.
Closing Remarks
'In The Name Of God' fizzles out after setting up the premise. Barring a couple of performances, the web series doesn't engage even in dribs and drabs.
