Bloody Brothers (2022) :
Series Review -
A murder mystery storyline can be handled in two ways. One, it can be dark and intense, and two, it can be spoofy and humorous, while the thrill factor remains constant in both. The British TV series Guilt (2019) was a hit and subsequently premiered in America, France, Australia, Sweden and some other countries. Of course, the storyline was interesting, but the presentation made it different from others. It isn't anything like what we have seen in British crime comedies made during the 50s and 90s or even until the 'Coen Brothers' formula, but somewhere it had references and nobody can deny it. ZEE5's latest crime-comedy-thriller is a remake of Guilt, so we all know from the beginning that the narrative revolves around a lot of things, with the basic theme of "guilt" in the middle. There's a big difference between our culture and British culture, so it is not possible to implant all those conflicts just as it is in Indian dramas and ask the audience to believe them. The same happened with Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios' last series, "Rudra", which was a crime thriller too, but like stated in the first line, it was made in another way - dark and intense (opposite to the fun way utilised for Bloody Brothers). You can copy the storyline, you can copy the dialogues and translate them into other languages, but you just can't copy the culture and their own stature of struggle. Well, that's the main issue here.
Two brothers, one blunder, and a bloody mess of a situation, that's all we have got to see in Bloody Brothers. Oh, that makes its title look appropriate too. The story revolves around two brothers, Jaggi (Jaideep Ahlawat) and Daljeet (Zeeshan Ayyub), whose lives spin out of control when a tragic car accident occurs. As expected, they try to cover the crime up, and when they think that they are safe, they learn about upcoming new threats. What follows is a series of lies to conceal the truth. However, as more lies are told and more people get involved, it becomes impossible for the two brothers to escape the bloody mess unharmed. Bloody Bothers makes a passable mess of all these elements, including the love story, toxic relationships, work pressure, sexual problems, and so on.
Jaideep Ahlawat hasn't really given any bad performances recently, so it's easy to believe him whenever he tries to convince you of something. Jaggy is a mastermind, but somewhere dumb too. Hence, the connect is lost, but Jaideep keeps him alive with his clever act. On the other hand, Zeeshan Ayyub is the same immature guy you see every day in your friend-circles. Maybe that's why you like him, but moreover, Zeeshan's perfect dialogue delivery makes it more happening than expected. Shruti Seth and Mugdha Godse look damn hot in every scene, and those close-ups are going to stay with you even after the show is over. Tina Desai is a perfect urban girl with that typical English accent, whereas Maya Alagh takes you by surprise. The supporting cast has done well too. Jitendra Joshi, Satish Kaushik, and Yuri Suri have all delivered fine performances, and you just can't hate these guys, even if you want to.
Bloody Bothers has a total of six episodes. The first one runs for over 40 minutes (only to set things up), but then, the next 5 episodes are shorter (only to finish things sooner). It starts off on a very funny note, so much so that you don't even realise that you're entering into a murder mystery. Even the characters don't take the mother seriously, and it sounds a little kiddish. However, it starts grabbing hold from episode two and then keeps the flow going with new characters and multiple dramatic ingredients. The problem appears in the last two episodes when you see that the entire buildup around the murder, relationship, and crime ends up without any solid textures. A woman having an extramarital affair with a person of the same sex isn't reasonable enough to justify the unsatisfied male side. Rather, it creates an unacceptable mess. The same goes with bromance and romance too. Let's keep the spoilers away.
Director Shaad Ali tasted decent success in the 2000's decade, but his filmography in the last decade isn't anything that you'd care to watch. Even with his most acclaimed work, "Soorma," he had some issues, but let's not discuss them here. With a remake of Guilt, he could have added more input from his previous works (those 2000s decade films), but he chose to play it safe by not disturbing anything from the original source material. Yes, that does work sometimes, but not completely. Bloody Bothers entertains you, and it also has some thrill factor attached to a philosophically ambitious climax that you may enjoy, depending on your taste. But, it's missing something, somewhere, especially in the ending portion. Or perhaps it will reveal that much-needed surprise in the sequel? Let's wait for it, and until then, let's enjoy what we have. Overall, an average remake to the Hit British series made quite watchable by the actors.
RATING - 5/10*
