Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Review: New Year, Same Old Netflix India

Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein — now streaming on Netflix — has an inherent promising black comedy setup at its core. In it, a strong politician’s doe-eyed daughter Purva Awasthi (Anchal Singh, from Undekhi) has had her eyes on the accountant’s veritable small-fry son Vikrant “Vicky” Singh Chauhan (Tahir Raj Bhasin, from Chhichhore) since they had been youngsters at college. (Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein’s premise could be creepy on a number of ranges should you had been to gender flip the entire thing. But that is a distinct debate.) And as a result of Vikrant is extraordinarily beloved to Purva, not one of the dozens of henchmen and enforcers that work for Purva’s dad, who kind of runs the city, dare lay a finger on him. Vikrant’s life is sort of effectively protected, although neither he nor the Netflix sequence take a lot benefit of that.

That’s largely as a result of Vikrant is — merely put — a coward. Even his desires are purposefully small, virtually as if he is scared that had been he to want extra, the universe may retaliate or one thing. And that is actually what Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is really keen on: Vikrant’s transformation. Creator, director, author, co-producer, and showrunner Sidharth Sengupta (Apharan) — whether or not the brand new Indian Netflix sequence goes proper or incorrect, there’s one man to reward or blame — needs to depict the sluggish however inevitable descent of a person who’s caught between sticking to his ideas and pulling out of Purva’s orbit.

Except Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein takes too lengthy to get there — and the journey is just not remotely attention-grabbing or intriguing sufficient. At instances, it seems like Sengupta took a movie-length narrative and stretched it to suit an eight-part first season (that ends on a cliffhanger). It’s additionally so closely plot-driven that it will get tiring after a degree. If there is a straight path out there from level A to level B, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein will take three detours on the way in which. Everything is made unnecessarily difficult. It needs to drive its characters into uncomfortable conditions, however finds inelegant methods to get itself there. It’s like Sengupta writes himself right into a nook, then simply chooses to surrender, as an alternative of discovering a greater route.

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When it isn’t predictable — Sengupta tries to promote us on deaths that aren’t plausible to start with — it retains data from the viewers to propel its thrills and thriller. And on multiple event, the brand new Indian Netflix sequence lies to viewers to arrange its twists and turns. And roughly halfway by way of, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein basically jumps the shark — I am unable to converse to specifics as a result of spoilers, save to say it is wholly illogical, however Sengupta merely drives on, as if pretending that we’re too dumb to catch on. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein can be irritating on the entire as the primary season is left intentionally incomplete. Netflix does not have an excellent observe report of greenlighting future seasons of its Indian authentic sequence; it is potential we’d by no means see its threads wrapped up.

Set in a nondescript fictional Uttar Pradesh small-town referred to as Onkara, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein opens with an Othello quote, however bears no connections to the Shakespeare play. The Netflix sequence revolves across the aforementioned Vikrant (Bhasin) whose first-episode voiceover takes us by way of his youth till current day. The menace that’s Purva ruined his childhood, Vikrant claims, as a result of she was at all times after him. His luck modified after she left city halfway by way of their education years — Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein by no means tells us why — earlier than Vikrant met and immediately fell for Shikha (Shweta Tripathi Sharma, in a thankless function) throughout his school years. Vikrant and Shikha’s love story is advised solely by way of a music; Shikha is much less a personality and extra a Vikrant prop.

But all that goes for a toss in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein after Purva (Singh) returns to Onkara. After Vikrant’s accountant dad Suryakant Singh Chauhan (Brijendra Kala, from The Aam Aadmi Family) pushes him to work for his grasp, the notorious politician Akheraj Awasthi (Saurabh Shukla, from Jolly LLB), Vikrant is as soon as once more thrust again into Purva’s orbit. And this time, it is like being sucked right into a black gap. Purva shortly wins over the Chauhans by getting her dad to pay Vikrant much more than his Bhilai engineering job (all for managing Zumba dance courses that she runs, humiliating him within the course of) and giving Vikrant’s sister (Hetal Gada, from Dhanak) a job too. Purva is attempting to lure ‘em all. And as Vikrant tries to get out of her thumb, she makes the household’s life hell in response.

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Anchal Singh in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein
Photo Credit: Priyanka Kala/Netflix

Still, Vikrant does not need something to do with Purva — in any case, Shikha and he need one another — and he does little to cover it. Why then is Purva insistent on getting Vikrant to be his? Because he is the one one who did not need her at school. The lady being the instigator flips the standard guy-stalking-girl mould (that is been deeply romanticised by Bollywood) although regardless of that, it is the person who causes extra harm on Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein. Maybe that is a method for Sengupta to touch upon how males simply take into consideration themselves, how males are the worst. It’s Vikrant’s actions — or fairly inaction (plus flip-flip decisions) — that push Shikha and her household into extra bother than Vikrant and his household should take care of. It’s Shikha who has to demean herself, due to Vikrant.

Some of this might have Gone Girl-esque vibes if Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein knew what it was doing. But alas, that is an excessive amount of to count on. Tonally, the brand new Indian Netflix sequence is in all places. There’s goofy comedy infused randomly in locations. At instances, it provides into the temper of the event and forgets the character’s temper. It upends the dynamic between characters to go well with the narrative, fully ignoring what it established throughout a number of episodes. More annoyingly, most of its characters are stationary and do not develop. Naturally, Vikrant’s arc is the deepest — however you solely really feel that as a result of Sengupta offers such a poor hand to everybody else. Except Vikrant, the remainder of them exist merely to maneuver the plot alongside.

And it does not assist that Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein operates in a really heightened actuality. On some stage, it is a bizarro comedy however wrapped up in an intense drama. A personality will give you a loopy plan, earlier than forcing different characters to go together with it, which in flip pushes the Netflix sequence onto a extra absurd stage. At instances, it seems like Sengupta is pushing himself to give you a an increasing number of contrived and convoluted plot — as a result of he does not know what else to do.

On high of that, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein will do something for impact, fairly than have a look at what is sensible given the scenario or the characters concerned. There are so many WTF moments within the new Indian Netflix sequence, leaving the viewers no time to debate or react to them. (It’s a trait Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein shares with Netflix’s earlier Indian thriller sequence, the Raveena Tandon-led Aranyak, from December final 12 months.) You could be tempted to say that Netflix India is kicking off 2022 on a horrible word — however exterior of a pair relatively-better-off titles, that is now the rule fairly than the exception. Just have a look at what it gave us final 12 months.

Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein launched Friday, January 14 at 1:30pm IST on Netflix.