Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is a throwback to pulpy 90s Bollywood classics like Baazigar, which makes sense since the show gets its name from one of the film’s songs. It’s about romance, violence, and plot twists, and when it comes to plot twists, the show spares no expenses.
Taking place in the fictional town of Onkara in Uttar Pradesh, the show follows Vikrant (Tahir Raj Bhasin), a mild-mannered, middle-class man who’s looking to get out of his small town and start a future with his girlfriend, Shikha (Shweta Tripathi). However, he is soon drawn into the orbit of Purva (Anchal Singh), the daughter of the local politician/mobster, Akheraj (Saurabh Shukla). She nudges her father to hire Vikrant to oversee her Zumba classes, and eventually, she pressures him to marry her. When Vikrant believes that Shikha had been murdered by Akheraj’s goons, he starts plotting his revenge.
The three leads all put in solid performances. Tahir Raj Bhasin is believable as the put-upon Vikrant who is forced to resort to desperate measures as his freedom and dreams are curtailed drastically by Akheraj and Purva. Although Shweta Tripathi has a smaller and more conventional role compared to the complex and meaty character of Golu in Mirzapur, she still makes an impact as the naïve but resilient Shikha. And then there’s Anchal Singh, whose portrayal of Purva is sure to make some heads turn. She’s a seductress, sure, and devious to a fault, but she never betrays a hint that she’s behind all the bad things happening to Vikrant before he agrees to marry her. She’s the sort of person who will smile in your face while she has someone else plunge a dagger in your back.
The story is decidedly pulpy, although some of its twists are strained, and the director, Sidharth Sengupta- and writers, Anahata Menon and Varun Badola- don’t entirely pull them off. There are times when it feels like the writers are spinning their wheels, and there aren’t enough subplots to keep the middle of the season as interesting as the beginning or the end.
It’s hard not to compare Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein with MIrzapur, but it almost feels like an unfair comparison.
The characters in Mirazpur are much more memorable, and the episodes are eminently bingeable. While Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is entertaining to a fault, it’s not as engaging or as tightly made, and its first season feels more like a proof of concept, although things do get more over-the-top in the last two episodes. Also, it feels like the story misses out by not delving deeper into Purva’s psyche and showing us what makes her tick.
The cliffhanger suggests there’s going to be a second season, but would viewers come back in case it happens? The show would need to strengthen its storytelling if it hopes to reach a fandom and acclaim on a level comparable to Mirzapur. Let’s hope it gets more things right than wrong when the second season comes along.