Scoop

Interest 1

CAT'S PICK : ★ 8.6

In Hansal Mehta's gripping drama series, Karishma Tanna gives a career-best performance as crime reporter Jagruti Pathak, who is accused of murder.

The new Netflix drama series Scoop, created by Hansal Mehta, has a lot to process and register. Reasonably, the discussion might begin with the question of whether the film director has been able to meet or exceed the high standards set by the brilliant Scam 1992: The Story of Harshad Mehta. With sufficient evidence, We can say that the answer is yes. Hansal Mehta has raised the bar even higher with Scoop, a show that is strikingly written and performed and stands on its own with an immediacy that very few shows in recent memory have attempted.

Scoop tells the true story of Vora's arrest and the murder of well-known journalist Jyotirmoy Dey. It shows up in the cold-blooded murder of Jaideb Sen by the gangster Chhota Rajan's men in broad daylight. Scoop devotes its first episodes primarily to creating the web of speculation that surrounds senior crime reporter Jagruti Pathak (Karishma Tanna) which ultimately leads her to jail.

Hansal Mehta is an immersive filmmaker with a keen eye for the creation of worlds. Characters who demand authority and control pique his interest in building the spaces that they use to meet that demand. Because Scoop has so many stories to tell, he rarely feels rushed or burdened in his storytelling. Special mention must be given to Karan Vyas's crisp and precise dialogue.

In addition, Hansal Mehta delves deeply into the events without losing touch with their authenticity, assisted by the impeccable research of Deepu Sebastian Edmond and the taut editing of Amitesh Mukherjee. If he had only focused on the journey that led up to Jagruti's arrest and the days that followed in the Byculla jail for nearly a year, Scoop could have easily become a very different survival story. Instead, he chooses to account for the story that began much earlier and avoids any narrative tricks. This is not a survival drama, nor is it trying to be a true-crime thriller series, which is something that has recently become popular on web series.