Kaiser (a charismatic, intense Afran Nisho) is a online game addict attempting to return to phrases with the truth that his ex spouse (Rikita Nandini Shimu) is now married to his greatest good friend (Mostafizur Noor Imran), and his daughter now has two dads. Like most homicidal detectives in such exhibits, the private is inextricably linked to the skilled: Solely when Kaiser is ready to kind out his points will he be capable of remedy the double homicide case he has discovered himself in.
Admittedly, it’s a bitter capsule to swallow: Marrying your greatest good friend’s spouse is a type of traces that shouldn’t be crossed, and we get a way that Kaiser has a robust ethical code. We see it in the way in which he reacts to a suspect throughout an interrogation scene when the latter makes a derogatory remark about girls. Clearly, in Kaiser’s books, there are traces that even criminals aren’t speculated to cross, and this considerations his greatest good friend and ex spouse—the story pivots on their friendship that dates again to after they have been children, enjoying novice detectives to resolve instances of a lot lesser significance. (His good friend is now against the law journalist, monitoring the identical case that Kaiser is investigating). However Kaiser’s character can also be a type of man-child who goes via a journey of acceptance and studying as soon as he’s compelled to face the exhausting information and get right down to do the actual speaking. His relationship along with his daughter, a bit precocious for her age, is meant to mirror on what a baby he’s.
Early on, we see him give her a duplicate of ‘Pahare Feluda’ [Feluda in the Mountains] as a birthday current. It’s one of many many occasions the present references works of detective fiction, however the hat-tip to Feluda, a component that circles again into the story in a while, is likely to be of better significance than others. The Feluda tales signify a spot of innocence in Bengali life — one of the best type of introduction to the world of detective fiction for a younger thoughts — however by repurposing it the way in which it does right here, Kaiser suggests an adulting of the style. The world of Feluda, famously devoid of ladies, is cannily positioned in a recent world, with its sophisticated problems with divorce, psychological well being, and a homicide thriller that isn’t what it appears — one that’s maybe nearer to the grislier crimes in Byomkesh.
The reflexive nature of the present appears pure, given Bengali tradition’s relationship with the style. And with its wide-ranging references, that embody every part from slasher movies to Hrithik Roshan in Guzaarish to King Kong versus Godzilla, it’s additionally reflective of Bangladeshi cinema: Studying from the remainder of the world, and now starting to talk in its personal voice, whereas being firmly being rooted in its literary traditions. The lo-fi aesthetics of the present’s opening credit — we see archival footage of Bangladesh within the Nineties over synth-pop music — is true for a present full of popular culture references and one which offers with the previous.
For all its referencing, Kaiser might have ended up as an underwhelming crime thriller—homages can solely take you to date. It begins promisingly, however loses itself within the center episodes, when it appears as if its self-awareness has received the higher of it: Cliches, just like the kidnapping of Kaiser’s daughter, or the invention of a drug peddling angle within the story, though they’re subverted, play like cliches. You get the sensation that the present would possibly journey over itself.
However these are nitpickings in a present that largely sustains our curiosity over 9 episodes with its well-drawn world and characters, together with Kaiser’s gaming accomplice—half stoner buddy, half flatmate, and half supplier of unlabelled companionship — and a shadowy villain determine referred to as The Barrister, actually tightening its screws within the remaining episodes, with a nasty little twist on the finish of the penultimate one. The revelations are stunning and as soon as they emerge, Kaiser comes out a good stronger cohesive entire. It’s in regards to the character’s journey, and unusual are the methods the double homicide case mirrors it.