Chakravyuh – An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller is an investigative thriller series directed by Sajit Warrier and starring Prateik Babbar, Simran Kaur Mundi, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shiv Panditt, Gopal Dutt and Ruhii Singh, alongside other cast members.
At the 15-minute mark, the forensic expert is seen eating pizza, wearing gloves at a crime scene where a man was brutally murdered and his penis was cut off. He was also stabbed multiple times. If that doesn’t speak leaps and volumes about how badly the justice system fails victims and blotches attempts at solving cases, then I don’t know what does.
Chakravyuh is an investigative thriller that uses the age-old trope of rape and extortion to push its plot forward. It follows Inspector Virkar, a tough cop, who goes beyond what is asked of him to bring justice and undo the wrongs that happen around him. He’s no-nonsense and pretty eccentric, you know, the type of detectives we like to see on-screen. However, when people start turning up brutally murdered, he must give it his all to bring the perpetrator to justice.
In the quest to find the killer though, he opens up a can of worms that might just prove to be too much for him.
Chakravyuh has too many plots. There’s the rape and extortion thing, there’s hacking, there’s corruption there’s cryptocurrency as well but unfortunately, it’s gets extremely difficult to understand what the series is actually about. Babbar stars in a role that is over-used in today’s explosion of crime-thrillers in the market and his character is absolutely boring and bland. Throughout the runtime, his facial expression is that of continued disgust and disgruntlement – like how you’d behave if someone put you into a chaddi two sizes small. However, it’s made to make us believe that he’s the macho cop who doesn’t give a damn about belonging in a box.
Throughout its runtime, Chakravyuh goes from one twist to another, often with exceptional velocity, that totally catches you off-guard and mostly doesn’t make sense. However, inspite of the sheer number of plots, it’s weirdly boring and not exciting. Resolutions and plot developments don’t imbibe a sense of mystery and intrigue that might be expected from an investigative thriller. The sex scenes are the additionally, horrifyingly bad and awkward and just look fake the moment they come on.
For the most part, the acting is so stiff from almost all of the characters in the series. Chakravyuh’s characters feel very one-dimensional and for some reason all of the female characters have a crush on Virkar. But if you’re asking why, then I wouldn’t be able to give you a good-enough reason.
Our protagonist’s character is that of a hammer and just that. We don’t see any other shades of him. Well, that might be a lie. There is a romantic angle to the series but it’s so awkward and unnecessary that I’d like to forget that that was added. Ashish Vidyarthi, Asif Basra and Gopal Datt are the most watchable actors here and add somewhat authenticity to this otherwise boring and unnecessary thriller.
Summing up: Chakravyuh
Chakravyuh is an addition to the long list of TV shows and movies that have come out to-date that try to capitalise on rape and gory violence to deliver a shock factor that keeps viewers thrilled and disgusted. However, if you look close enough, the series does not deliver much in terms of plot point or narrative. It’s dull and the you’d be able to understand what’s to come from miles away. Additionally, the acting and characters are below average and thus, there isn’t much that can tie you to this disappointing watch.
Chakravyuh is streaming on MX Player.
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