‘Dahaad’ Is A Riveting Story with Impactful Performances

Amazon Prime’s psycho-thriller web series ‘Daahad’ directed by Reema Kagti and Ruchika Oberoi is doing amazingly well. It has received some great reviews from critics for all the right reasons. The series is set in a small rustic village Mandawa in Rajasthan. Cop Anjali Bhaati played by Sonakshi Sinha comes across a rare case where 27 girls go missing. Anjali analyses the case closely and realises that the disappearance of the women is well planned out possibly by a serial killer. She finds a pattern in the case such as most girls belong to scheduled castes who either couldn’t give dowry due to poverty or were emotionally weak. The phones that were discovered during the investigation belonged to the previous victim. All victims who were missing were found dead in bathrooms and died by consuming cyanide.

The team that is involved in this ever complex case is Devi Lal Singh played by Gulshan Devaiah and Kailash Parghi played by Sohum Shah. You’ll come across other interesting characters such as the charismatic Anand Swarnakar (Vijay Varma) who is a school teacher. He teaches Hindi literature and poetry. He also drives a van that is packed with books and reads stories to children from villages. Anand is married with a wife and a son. He has a brother Shiv who is a jeweller. Their father is orthodox and rigid. As the investigation progresses, the cool and calm Anand becomes the prime suspect. The only hiccup is that there is absolutely no evidence to prove that Anand is the killer. So who could be the perverted psychopath who is on the prowl for his next target?

The rustic scenes of Mandawa village are enrapturing as if the town has many stories buried in its core. The web series will give you a peek into the lives of the villagers who are very rigid in their values. Mothers are seen pressuring their daughters to get married. Daughters are made to live a suffocating life. The orthodox values are so ingrained in their DNA that families are ready to to forgo their missing daughters all in the name of family honour rather than search for them. Sonakshi Sinha has done a brilliant job as a lady cop. Anjali Bhaati is a police officer who knows her job at the tip of her fingers and is often a victim of sexism and caste discrimination. Yet, she handles it all due to her strong persona. Without a doubt Vijay Varma scores brownie points with his effortless performance. His cool, gentle and well mannered persona is bound to keep you engaged in his character right till the end. Gulshan Devaiah does an amazing job as the honest police officer who is striving hard to strike a balance between work and his personal life. Sohum Shah delivers an excellent performance too. What’s interesting is that the actors have given realistic performances and exhibited different layers to their characters effectively. ‘Dahaad’ will coax you to question the complex societal norms we have to live by. It is bound to stir up different emotions. It also enlightens how serial killers are made and takes a dive into their distorted mindset about women. The gripping story also highlights how family environment plays a very important role in shaping someone into a serial killer.