Grahan

Through his investigations, freelance journalist Santosh Jaiswal comes across a communal riot conspiracy. But before he could share the details with anyone, he got murdered. In 2016, the CM forms SIT to investigate the 1984 Bokaro Anti-Sikh riots. SP City Amrita Singh, who leads the SIT came across a photograph of one of the rioters and she recognizes the man in the photograph as his father Gurusevak. Gurudeva refuses to disclose anything about the photograph and his past. In search of truth, Amrita goes to Bokaro with the SIT, and the pages of the past start to unwind. And so does questions - Who was Rishi Ranjan, who led the violent mob in 1984? Who was Manu? Who was Pragya? Who was Saini? Who were Guru, Jhandu, and Chhabra ji? What was the role of Chunnu in the infamous Sikh genocide that swept Bokaro? And the most important and relevant question - why the people who used to stay together turned into blood-thirsty devils?

Inspired from Satya Vyas' novel "Chaurasi", this 8-episode series "Grahan" switches between two time periods - Ranchi 2016 and Bokaro 1984. The team behind the story-screenplay of Grahan - Anu Singh Chaudhary, Navjot Gulati, Vibha Singh, Prateek Payodhi, Ranjan Chandel, and Shailendra Kumar Jha has done a commendable job. Despite making many additions and changes in the story, the writing team has succeeded in retaining the soul of the original novel "Chaurasi".

Anshuman Pushkar and Wamika Gabbi have lived the characters of Rishi and Manu respectively. Zoya Hasan as Amrita Singh and Teekam Joshi as Sanjay Singh have been quite impressive. Whatsoever small role it was, every actor has done his part effectively, be it Raj Sharma (Saini), be it Sahidur Rahman (DSP Vikas Mandal), be it Satyakam Anand (Kedar Bhagat), or be it Saharsh Shukla (Guru). Last, but not least, Pawan Malhotra was the top performer. While portraying Gurusevak, who remains silent most of the time, Pawan Malhotra has acted wonderfully through his eyes and facial expressions. It is one of his finest performances.

Varun Grover's lyrics are beautiful and Amit Trivedi's melodious music does wonders, like always. "Jogiya", "Chori Chori" and "Main Hoon Teri Parchhai" (penned and sung by Swanand Kirkire) stays with you for long. The background music also suits the theme. The cinematography is OK, but the Editing was under par. The direction was superb. The production design is also among the highlights of the series.

Grahan is a must-watch. Go for it.