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Dabba Cartel review: A trippy, twisted ride

Dabba Cartel review: Some of the goings-on amongst this gang, despite its not-so-believable-bits, and forced gangsta moves, are enjoyable, with a few genuinely frightening moments bunged in.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Dabba Cartel is streaming on Netflix.

Dabba Cartel review: A group of Thane-based women come together to fend off multiple elements that are stopping them from being themselves. Sweet housewife Raji (Shalini Pandey), her dour mother-in-law Sheila (Shabana Azmi), mouthy domestic worker Mala (Nimisha Sajayan), unhappy wife-cum-entrepreneur Varuna (Jyotika), smart real-estate agent Shahida (Anjali Anand), all very different from each other, find common cause through an unlikely enterprise: the modest business of daily dabbas with ‘ghar-ka-khana’ laced with a little kick, turns into a ride whose rising profit comes with thrills and danger.

It’s called, quite aptly, ‘Dabba Cartel’. Fittingly, many more characters spill out at every turn. Jisshu Sengupta, the suave head of evil pharma company Vivalife; his ambitious young colleague (Bhupendra Jadawat), whose dream is get transferred overseas; the deceptively benevolent-looking officer (Gajraj Rao) investigating irregularities at Vivalife, helped by a spirited policewoman (Sai Tamhankar); a nosey building aunty (Sushmita Mukherjee); a South Bombay sharpie (Lillete Dubey), and an assorted bunch of baddies, which include a passel of small fry and big fish (Sandesh Kulkarni), and a mysterious mobster called Chacko.

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, because this seven-part series, taking its cues from the ordinary-people-getting-stuck-in-improbable-situations genre, darts in several corners– towns in Punjab, stud farms on the outskirts of Mumbai, dark corners in warehouses, cosy buildings in Thane, and the ever-picturesque Marine Drive—in its attempts at joining the dots between unassuming homemakers and drug peddlers, with other layers in between.

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Part of my time was spent in eye-rolling at some of the characterisations: some of us will remember Shabana Azmi as the formidable female don in the 1997 ‘Godmother’, from which this character seems to have been drawn; here she takes time to warm up to her part, and once she does, there’s no stopping her. Nothing fazes her, not guns, nor goons. Canny company men leak information to TV reporters who ‘break news’. Submissive wives who don’t look as if they have ever stepped out of their kitchens discover, without missing a beat, that they are a dab hand at cooking up substance.

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Still, some of the goings-on amongst this gang, despite its not-so-believable-bits, and forced gangsta moves, are enjoyable, with a few genuinely frightening moments bunged in. The ladies do seem to find their rhythm, even if they also seem to become overnight experts at conjuring up brand-new addictions, with the help of aggrieved scientists, conveniently waiting to be recruited. Also, girl-on-girl action, surprisingly tepid here, has now become a trope: the time is ripe for other permutations and combinations.

Not everything lands, but it looks like this dabba cartel is just getting started. Clearly, there’s more to come.

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Dabba Cartel cast: Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey, Bhupendra Jadawat, Anjali Anand, Gajraj Rao, Lilette Dubey, Sai Tamhankar, Sushmita Mukherjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Vivek Madaan, Santanu Ghatak, Sandesh Kulkarni, Ankur Dabbas
Dabba Cartel director: Hitesh Bhatia
Dabba Cartel rating: Two and a half stars stars

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