There is more violence in the words here than in the action. Vendetta and intrigue are stronger characters here than the main protagonists. Ergo, this is a psychological thriller that is a complete novelty for Indian OTT.
The series is an official adaptation of the 2019 Israeli series, Magpie. Ashu (Roshan Mathew) is sent to jail for 14 years for murdering a foreign tourist in Goa. Out of jail, his elder brother, Max (Mohit Raina), whom he has always idolized to the point of veneration, takes him home but also suggests that he find his own residence. He gives Ashu a few justifications for this, and loads him with money.
Ashu wants to be a part of Max’s business, as he is a developer, or builder of homes and residential complexes. Max has a loving wife, Nisha (Sara Jane Dias, spelt now minus the ‘H’ in the first letter) and daughter, Ira (Kurangi Vijayshri Nagraj) and they are both his be-all and end-all. But as per Max’s dictum and his worship for him, he accepts that he cannot be a part of Max’s firm.
Max also has two childhood buddies who are his associates in business, the volatile Shardul (Mahesh Shetty) and the placid Pedro (Ninad Kamat) who is an attorney, and they have all together been dismissive of Ashu and have ridiculed him for his stammer since they were all kids. As the series moves ahead, Ashu receives love and affection from Max’s family, but Shardul and Pedro continue to mock and scorn him. Max, however, defends and cares for Ashu.
Max is eyeing a certain portion of the town of Mapusa in Goa for a swank residential complex that is his dream. He is backed by his politician uncle (Anant Jog). But the main opponent here is Mrs. Deshmukh (Usha Nadkarni), who refuses to be tempted by Max’s offer and demands much more, as the residents of that locality look up to her and she is a kind of a leader for them.
Ashu is kept out of all this by Max but gets in deviously somehow and helps Max’s interests by neutralizing all the opposition and dangers in different, not necessarily physically. He also manipulates Mrs. Deshmukh’s nephew, Janardhan (Pratap Madhavrao Phad) against his aunt and even as Max has convinced her to sign the agreement, engineers her death.
Coming across as a harmless man who has spent half his life in jail, Ashu now looks increasingly devious and totally focused in his nefarious ways of dealing with the emotions of his family, acquaintances as well as strangers. Early on, we are told that he has been released by the cops after a promise of helping the cops squeal on people they suspect by engaging them in conversations. But does he also have an agenda against Max and his friends? And what about his love for Amy (Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju), his childhood friend, Amey, who has had a sex change done?
So what is Ashu really all about? Is he victim or oppressor? Is Max as straight as he seems? How does his dream project’s progress? How does Ashu deal with Pedro and Shardul who detest him now even as they looked down on him earlier?
Kankhajura (which means the centipede, as the blurb goes, “So fragile….yet so fatal”) lives up to its name. It is a better title than the original Magpie (a bird that is intelligent, bold, curious and often mischievous, and can impress in surprising ways), considering how the character of Ashu pans out, for all his seeming innocence and guilelessness.
Chandan Arora, who has never succeeded commercially as a director, but aced it as editor in many films (Company, Krrish 3, Ghayal Once Again, Mission Mangal), scores big as a director here, but his editor (Vaishakh Ravi) could have done better. The series is somewhat faulted by a languorous narrative that stretches so many key sequences and includes a few extraneous ones it could have done without. That said, the twists and turns do keep one hooked despite this frequently flagging pace. The climax is very cerebral and impactful and makes up for this deficit, and there is every chance of a second season, because the original did have one as well.
The Indianization (Chandan Arora and Sandeep Jain) is done very well, and the location selected (Goa) helps in bridging the cultural chasm between Israeli lifestyle and the Indian ethos. The dialogues (Sidhaye and Arora) are a highlight as they must show the power of simple words that seem innocent but can be eminently damaging.
Kankhajura rests on the magnificent performance of Roshan Mathew, and whichever agency or individual (s) are responsible for casting him deserve an award as much as Roshan does. He is perfect and leaves us spellbound from scene one to the last. In the end, it is difficult to imagine that Ashu is a different individual from Roshan, and therein lies his triumph!
Mohit Raina has fast emerged as a powerful performance, whatever be his characters, and he is outstanding as Max, who has a perfectly human shade of gray to him. Next ranks Usha Nadkarni, a scene-stealer if there was one, as the doughty and haughty Mrs. Deshmukh. Her snarls, grins, bellows of laughter and scowls made my day!
Mahesh Shetty and Ninad Kamat are very effective, and Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju is perfectly subdued. Sara Jane Dias impresses in the limited range of her role, and Heeba Shah as the tough DSP is also impressive. The cops are again a casting triumph, especially the inspector who dies in the explosion, as well as the DSP’s boss.
This one’s decidedly worth a watch. Despite its inherent placid storytelling.
Rating: ****
SonyLIV presents JAR Pictures’ Kankhajura Created by: Adam Bizanski, Dana Eden & Omri Shenhar Produced by: Ajay Rai Directed by: Chandan Arora Written by: Adam Bizanski, Dana Eden, Omri Shenhar, Chandan Arora, Sandeep Jain & Upendra Sidhaye Music: Roby Abraham Starring: Roshan Mathew, Mohit Raina, Sara Jane Dias, Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Usha Nadkarni, Ninad Kamat, Mahesh Shetty, Heeba Shah, Mithun Purandare, Kurangi Vijayshri Nagraj, Anant Jog, Sachin Ashok Shinde, Sarur Gaikwad, Pratap Madhavrao Phad & others
