- Review: Pandu (Web Series)
- Director: Anusha Nandakumar & Sarang Sathaye
- Writer: Noel Cordeiro, Omkar Jadhav & Gaurav Pawar
- Cast: Suhas Shirsat, Deepak Shirke, Trupti Khamkar, Prasad Reddy, Abish Mathew, Girija Oak & Sarang Sathaye
- Web Platform: MX Player
Quick Viewpoint: ‘Pandu’ gives a refreshing look at the life of Mumbai police in a very light-hearted, easy going, private way. However without any warning it also shows us how their life is still at risk and in no time a disaster can take place.
What Works?
- Many a times when we see a Marathi police officer or a constable in a Hindi film or series, we are more likely seeing a stereotyped version of reality! In ‘Pandu’ that isn’t the case! The series first & foremost looks at the central character and the rest of the police surrounding him as simply humans. Humans who are imperfect, yet sensitive and have a practical conscience and not the heroic conscience that we see in the cops played by Bollywood stars!
- Suhas Shirsat and senior actor Deepak Shirke are both perfectly casted in their parts and they have truly given memorable performances. For Shirsat especially this could be a career changing moment!
- The private-family life of the central character is equally important in the series as his life as a cop and also to highlight the fact that the cops too are just the same average common man who has day to day little battles to fight!
- The blend of lifelike subtle humour and an existential crisis faced by the lead character makes the series stand out from various streaming content on different platforms.
What Fails?
- The first three episodes when compared to the last three feel lacking of substance, even though the characters are instantly relatable.
- The series was obviously made on a minimal budget and unfortunately it sometimes is visible in couple of scenes and becomes a distraction and a deviation from the plot of the series.
Final Verdict: Sarang Sathaye and his team at ‘Bharatiya Digital Party’ are true pioneers in the world of Marathi web content and with ‘Pandu’ they take it forward and inspire other creators in Marathi to take risks and bring out their own content out!
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