London Files is the latest investigative thriller drama series released on Voot on April 21, 2022. The series is written by Prateek Payodhi & directed by Sachin Pathak. The star cast includes Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Gopal Datt, Sapna Pabbi, Sagar Arya, Eva Jane Willis and Medha Rana.
The series has 6 episodes with a runtime of about 35-40 minutes each. It is also available in Hindi, Kannada & Tamil languages on Voot select.
Voot has described the series as:
“An intense investigative thriller that follows homicide detective Om Singh as he reluctantly takes on a missing person’s case in a politically divided and criminally rife London city.”
-London Files Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
What’s it all about: Protests, missing people & murder
The series London Files start with Arjun Rampal aka Om Singh’s wife preparing for their son’s birthday while waiting for him to come home. But instead comes bad news that shakes up everyone. What has happened to his son? Was there an accident or did he get hurt? We get to know this later on in the series.
Anyway, after the devastating ordeal, Om has started his new life where he is assigned a case of the missing daughter of media mogul Amar Roy. Soon an unidentifiable body is also found in a lake. Om’s investigation and all the pieces of evidence directly point toward Amar. But why would a father kill his own daughter? Is there something that doesn’t meet the eye?
The plot is set against the backdrop of protests & rebellion against the Anti-immigration Bill passed by the UK Parliament. Amar Roy has publicly supported this bill on his TV channels & has become an enemy of immigrants who are against it. Could this be the reason behind his daughter’s disappearance or there’s something sinister going on behind all this?
The Characters: A detective with a dark past & addiction issues
The main character Om Singh is your stereotypical detective carrying the traumatic baggage of the past, yet solving cases successfully with his unrelenting attitude. He vapes to keep himself sane from the emotional burst out but even at work, he seems like a know-it-all snob. He makes his own judgment about the case even before any proof or investigation. He only believes in his intuition & breaks the law all the time to get evidence.
Like every Sherlock Holmes, Om’s Watson is a hacker who can get you any sensitive information in a few seconds. Well, I absolutely believe that the hacker could have solved the case in an hour only if Om wasn’t getting high on his snobbery. For example, talking to his British colleagues & therapist in Hindi. Make it make sense.
The character of Amar Roy played by Purab Kohli is impactful even though he doesn’t have much screen time but he fits the part perfectly. Om’s wife character is hardly in the series except in the first few minutes of episode 1. The antagonist played by Gopal Datt, known for his comic roles, doesn’t feel as effective as the character should be. He seems mellow instead of sinister.
Final Thoughts: Stream it or Skip it?
London Files by Voot Select is a predictable thriller that has a good build-up at the start but after a certain point, it seems like a drag & unsurprising. The clues and evidence are right in your face but Arjun Rampal’s dreadful character can’t see anything. The storyline is not well established, they tried to bring in a twist or a shock factor but the loose ends exposed them.
The story tries to talk about various burning issues in the world like immigration laws, gun violence in schools & gullible minds getting trapped in cults. But even with all the elements of chaos, the plot motivation is not defined. The reasoning falls short of a tightly knit script & impactful acting. The sinister background music seems repetitive, loud and incoherent like his main character.
The series is a casual watch when you are absolutely bored and want to watch something that doesn’t load heavy on the mind. Arjun Rampal’s character is his own enemy rather than the real villain itself. If you are looking for something fresh then this series has a rap song in one of the episodes. That certainly caught me by surprise.
London Files is streaming on Voot.
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