Jamtara: Sabka Number Ayega

Jamtara introduces us to a new but half-baked world of phishing fraud. But at the same time it introduces us to some new raw talent of actors who give compelling performances.

The phishing fraud is touched only on a peripheral level with a group of village kids calling gullible customers from metro cities and asking for their credit card details to make fraudulent purchases. In reality, am sure, the phishing fraud has more to it. However this aspect doesn't hurt much as phishing is only used as a backdrop to this crime caper which has the regular trappings of ambitious kids hoping to make quick money, a corrupt politician, a new cop trying hard to cleanse the village, gang war between rivals, et al. In that respect the show creates a crime world of its own like 'Mirzapur' though the treatment is not pretentious like 'Sacred Games'. While the makers do not break new grounds in coming up with a crime world which we haven't seen earlier, they do present what they have with grit and conviction.

Most episodes of around 20-25 minutes are an easy watch and have interesting hook points ensuring you binge watch to an extent. Unlike other shows that come up with superfluous subplots to fill up runtime for around 10 episodes, here the narrative doesn't stray far. The main characters are well-etched. The pace drops and the flow goes a little abrupt in the last couple of episodes. And just when you start rooting for the protagonist despite him being an archetypal anti-hero, the show ends with an abrupt moral tone of 'crime-never-pays'. The end however is more conclusive as compared to other shows in the genre that end midways to make route for a second season.

Technically the show is well-crafted and the performances are a major highlight. Sparsh Srivastava as the lead is superb. Anshuman Pushkar as his rival has a hangover of Vivek Oberoi in his looks and Manoj Bajpai in his acting. His character however doesn't get much scope after the first few episodes. The female cast have strong characterization with Aksha Pardasany and Monika Panwar giving nuanced performances. Amit Sial glides smoothly through the role of a corrupt politician. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as the conflicted cop is also good.

Jamtara is a show that you will enjoy while you watch but might not stay with you long after.