A league of sex, scandal, greed & glamour
Cricket is the most puffed up sport of India. The sport is certainly one of the only things that bond the nation as one. Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment in alliance with Amazon Original has come up with a new web series, titled 'Inside Edge’ which exposes the game behind the game.
Starting with a bang. The first episode opens with a sex scene. In the premiere episode of the new series “Inside Edge,” Karan Anshuman (director of Bangistan) introduces us to a spoiled yet attractive player Vayu Raghavan (played by Tanuj Virwani). He is like a naughty boy who has arranged all the pages in a random order.
I just completed watching Inside Edge - recently premiered on Amazon Prime. This web show is grounded on life beyond cricket during league tournaments. Cricket and Bollywood are repeatedly boasted as India's parallel fixations. And the two battlefields have inclined to romance with each other, time and again, over the years.
The series is endowed with a brilliant bunch of artists - Richa Chadha, Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Suri, Sayani Gupta, Tanuj Virmani and Angad Bedi to name a few.
The saga of Zarina Malik (played by Richa Chadha) a promising celebrity and the owner of a cricket team and Mumbai Mavericks team - a part of the PPL (Powerplay T20 League), which is a story bound Indian Premier League kind of T20 cricket tournament, unfolds simultaneously. Generous sex scenes and punch lines can’t unerringly be called hindrances for a web series that gives a peep inside the gloomy world of cricket - which is also labelled as the gentlemen’s game - where power and money overtakes everything. Yes, everything.
The director has very precisely crafted the story around the alluring world of cricket and Bollywood, and what goes on behind the closed doors of the conference rooms of the team-owners. The series expresses that cricket at present is more about money and less about sports and how the monetary aspect of the game gives rise to dubious principles and immoral deals.
Actors Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha do a fine job in the lead roles. Vivek Oberoi is above reproach as the baddie of the show.
Richa Chadha is bold and we know it. She is recognised to attempt characters of empowered women. Be it Nagma Khatoon from Gangs of Wasseypur, Devi Pathak from Masaan or Bholi Punjaban from Fukrey, her performances have left a strong mark.
Sayani (who plays Rohini Raghavan - sister of Vayu Raghavan and the team analyst) has a marvellous screen presence. I personally cherished her performance.
Every episode has an exhilarating end that will induce you to watch the next episode. I must admit, I completed the series at one go. Actor Tanuj Virmani and Siddhant Chaturvedi turned out to be the surprise package of the series.
The show is entertaining in bits. Watch it for Vivek Oberoi, though I wanted to take Richa Chadha’s name but the only pot hole is her dialogue delivery. Never mind!
The show ends on a cliff-hanger leaving the spectators wanting more. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to put it down without giving it a try.
From the August 2017 issue of FHM India.
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