Fanboy Alert!
For as long as I can remember I have been in love with Madhuri Dixit. But looking back, I now realize that it’s because she was THE queen of Bollywood for the youngest of my years. From my pre-teen years (Tezaab was 1986) to my end of college years (Dil Toh Pagal Hai was 1997), MD, as we called her then, was the most attractive star that gave us many dhak-dhak moments growing up. She was beautiful, talented, and danced like no one has been able to ever since. Like all of our first love, she will continue to have the most special place in our hearts.
But this review is not about Madhuri. It’s about her latest and after a long time (almost a decade or more) a proper Madhuri content to watch and enjoy. The talent shows with her as the judge and Kalank don’t count!
#thefamegame is a full-on Madhuri spectacle, where she plays the lead protagonist, superstar Anamika Anand, who suddenly disappears after the latest award night show, leaving her family destroyed, her fans in despair, and the police in circles trying to solve the mystery. As the story moves in the present and the flashback (with a run-up of events leading to her disappearance), many characters are built, many secrets are revealed and a plot of who-could-have-kidnapped-Anamika-Anand enfolds. The suspense side of the story runs in parallel to the emotional side of the story, where her perfect-public image is contrasted to her completely imperfect and almost dysfunctional personal life. A troubled marriage, troubled mother, troubled children, troubled ex-lover, and even troubled fans, all intertwine with each other to create an almost-engaging story till the end of the 8th and final episode.
Overall, it’s a decent OTT watch (not one of the better ones), but for fanboys like me, with Madhuri in every scene, it’s completely worth the money.
Madhuri is a dream, flowing through her role effortlessly. She looks aged but still beautiful, with an elegant presence dominating every scene. Sanjay Kapoor as a shadow of himself is able to hold on to his own, well just about. Manav Kaul, as Anamika’s ex-lover, gives a decent performance. Suhasini Muley as the star-mother is, as always, really good. And the daughter, played by Muskaan Jaferi is decent too. But, apart from Madhuri, the two characters that are a discovery in their brilliant performances are Lakshvir Saran, who plays Avi, the conflicted and angsty son, and Rajshri Deshpande, who plays Shobha Trivedi, the inspector investigating the case. Both play slightly complex characters, dealing with multiple emotions and they both deliver and how. It is an absolute joy to watch them perform their characters.
Produced by Karan Johar, directed by Bejoy Nambiar and Karishma Kohli, there are some nice progressive narratives throughout the story. Around women bearing the unsaid burden of keeping the family together, even though they may be stars and the breadwinners of the family. Around them finding the strength to liberate themselves from the traps laid by society to discover and chase what they want. Around accepting the sexuality of youngsters, who are finding themselves, in a society that still is un-inclusive at its core.
In a way, it feels like OTT storytelling has decided to take a stand of tellling mainly ‘feel-bad’ stories. We know that Bollywood did a little too much of ‘feel-good’, but I’m sure the OTT platforms can find a middle path, without making all Hindi stories take us to the ‘geharaiyaan’ of despair all the time.
But, where the series really misses out is in not having a clear vision for the story. As we get to the later episodes, the story starts falling into some predictable patterns, and to cater to a thriller genre, complicates the plot with diversions on the narrative. Some unnecessary deaths, unnecessary betrayals, and unnecessary twists. Even though the mystery of why and how Anamika disappears is quite good when it’s revealed.
The other disappointing thing about the series is that it’s a very insider-Bollywood storytelling, many times making a commentary on the lives of successful celebrities. As a result, it becomes a very narrow inside story, that beyond a point fails to make a strong connection to the plot and the characters.
And finally, the main big missed opportunity is the narrowness of the vision of leveraging an actor like Madhuri Dixit. It’s like Karan Johar and the new age directors can’t see Madhuri as anything other than a ‘star of yesteryears’. In fact, that’s the most disappointing narrative of everything she has done in the last decade. True that Madhuri was a star. But the reason she was a star is because of her talent. It’s time for a storyteller to truly see beyond the chaka-chaund-ness of Madhuri Dixit, to see her for who she is and what she can bring to good story-telling. A little bit like what Anamika Anand herself keeps looking for, throughout the series. In that, then, is the supreme irony, that the plot of the series itself is not able to do what it preaches.
I still stay in hope that a scriptwriter, a director, and a producer will find that soon enough.
Till then, we wait for the second season of The Fame Game, because yes, season 1 does end with a cliffhanger.
What did you expect? It's Netflix!
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