Kaalkoot review: Vijay Verma’s pitch-perfect performance makes up for series’ lapses

But the performances make up for these lapses, almost. Right on top of the heap is Vijay Varma, who is pitch perfect as Ravi Shankar Tripathi, both as a man confronted with his own shortcomings, as well as a professional struggling to find the right path for himself. I haven’t enjoyed the previous two Varma outings, his serial killer coming off too bland in ‘Dahaad’, as well as his limp lecherous lover in ‘Lust Stories 2’. As the conflicted moral centre piercing the darkness of his surroundings, Varma is an absolute pleasure to watch. Both Yashpal Sharma, his more experienced colleague who works closely on the investigation, and Gopal Datt, his heavy-handed thana-in-charge but a good cop nonetheless, are excellent.

The hard life of women is laid bare – up for grabs if you smile too freely, judged if you want sexual freedom, rejected in the marriage mart if you have a chronic condition, living under the protection of the father-husband-and-son, taking permission to leave the house, at the other end of the vengeful male gaze– with solid acts from Seema Biswas, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Suzanna Mukherjee among others. Homophobia comes up, as does female foeticide and unwanted pregnancies, and the series starts feeling too busy. Lines like this one — ‘ladka ghee ka ladoo hai, tedha medha hi sahi’– are flavourful but too many, as is the use of such descriptors as ‘baudam’ and ‘baklol’ that tell us that we are in East UP. Here’s another: ‘mard banane gaya tha, usne toh mujhe poora insaan banaa diya.’

The music is lovely, though, and adds a great deal of atmosphere to the series.

Kaalkoot cast: Vijay Varma, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Seema Biswas, Gopal Datt, Suzanna Mukherjee
Kaalkoot director: Sumit Saxena