Rating : 3/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2021
Platform : Voot
Number of Episodes : 8
Director : Oni Sen
Cast : Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti, Sharib Hashmi, Anupriya Goenka, Riddhi Dogra, Vishesh Bansal
Kidwise : PG-13
Asur is the hunt for a serial killer. This 8 part series has Arshad Warsi as forensic expert Dhananjay Rajpoot who leads a CBI team. Barun Sobti plays forensic expert Nikhil Nair who used to work under Dhananjay but quit due to differences and is now teaching at the FBI. When Nikhil starts getting coordinates of places where murders have been committed, he decides to return to India and his old job, much to his wife Naina’s (Goenka) chagrin.
On his return he works on the investigation of the most recent murder, where the killer has mutilated and burnt the body so that it is unrecognizable and untraceable. Nikhil still manages to unearth clues which reveal the perpetrator . . .
Asur mixes the serial killer trope with Hindi mythology, rooting the killer and his destructive instincts in religious mumbo-jumbo. The episodes take us back and forth in time giving us a look-see into the killer’s life, his childhood and the forces that ultimately come together to make him a devious criminal.
While the idea is good, and the Hindu mythology angle very interesting, the execution does not pass muster. I’m a little surprised that this series garners a high rating on IMDB. There are many holes in the plot and character inconsistencies. There is little attention to detail – for example, in one scene, purportedly in the US where Nikhil and Naina are living, the electrical sockets are of the 3 round-pin type, which is not found in the US.
The dialogs seem juvenile and inexplicable in places – not sure what the writers were thinking. At one point, CBI investigator Nusrat (Dogra) says that no-one can solve the case except Dhananjay – which left me flummoxed. Yes, Dhananjay is our hero, but is he the only competent officer in the entire department and are the other incompetent officers just proclaiming their own worthlessness?
Arshad Warsi is one of the better actors out there, but his character seems very uni-dimensional here. Barun Sobti is not the actor Warsi is and can’t get beyond a superficial portrayal of a nerdy investigator (and what’s with the long locks?). Sharib Hashmi was quite good as CBI investigator Lolark Dubey, and Anupriya Goenka and Ridhi Dogra are about average.
The series ends with a convoluted climax and without a clear resolution – so there will probably be a second season. I just hope that that one is more coherent and competent.
