Abhimanyu Singh, Ravi Kishan, Vinay Pathak, Ashutosh Rana, and Anup Soni. For the regular audience of Indian theatrical and OTT productions, these names are enough to start indulging in a series without even knowing anything about the plot. These veteran actors from Indian cinema, whom I feel are yet to receive their dues, join forces in the Netflix’s latest ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter.’ Khakee is an Indian crime thriller series created and written by Neeraj Pandey and directed by Bhav Dhulia. As its name suggests, the series is set in the state of Bihar, which has the highest crime rate in India. The series takes its inspiration from Amit Lodha’s book ‘Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal was Caught’ and is about the rise and fall of the notorious criminal Chandan Mahto (Pintu Mahto in real life) who terrorized the region for years. The story is set in Bihar around 2005 with some of its backstories told in flashbacks. A young henchman Chandan Mahto (Avinash Tiwary) is seen trying to become a part of an already-established gang. But some altercations with his leader cause him to take a bold decision and from then onwards, he quickly rises to fame in the Bihar criminal circuit.

On the other side, IPS Officer Amit Lodha (Karan Tacker)—an IIT Delhi graduate—joins the police force instead of getting a corporate job because of his passion to serve his country and his love for the uniform.

The two men, on opposite sides of the clash, are involved in a brutal clash of ego and power while the whole of Bihar is terrorized by kidnappings, assaults, and murder. As the story unfolds, the audience also gets a glimpse of how political power and conflicts of interest affect the policing and even the judiciary system of developing countries. On a wider look, it’s not only these two men clashing with each other. SHO Ranjan Kumar (Abhimanyu Singh), one of those rare honest cops in the region, is adamant in putting Chandan behind bars. Abhyudaya Singh (Ravi Kishan), a powerful politician, wants to use Chandan for his benefit. Mukteshwar Chaubey (Ashutosh Rana), a corrupt IG of Bihar Police, changes sides in the blink of an eye if he feels it will work to his advantage. Dilip Sahu aka Chawanprash Sahu (Jatin Sarna) just wants Chandan to rule, while he himself remains his close aide.  Former CM Ujjiyaar Prasad (Vinay Pathak) wants to topple the government to take back his position of power. Besides the Amit-Chandan protagonist-antagonist duo, Khakee has so many characters of interest. But this becomes a bane for the series instead of a boon. With so many characters raising interests and thus the audience’s expectations, the writing fails to accommodate most of them into the screenplay. This is especially disappointing because Khakee is a seven-episode series, each of which runs for around 45 minutes. So, it had plenty of time to take us into the colorful lives of the different characters in the story. But no, the series focuses mostly on Amit and Chandan. On top of all this, the actors performing these roles are extremely underwhelming. Writer/creator Pandey and director Dhulia bank too much on the lead actors to under-utilize the actual performers of the movie. While Rana is almost magical in his role, the rest of the experienced cast doesn’t get much screen time or a strong presence because of the weak writing. Singh as SHO Ranjan Kumar is a lot more convincing and intense than his superior Amit Lodha. Same can be said for Sarna’s Chawanprash which outshines his gangster boss Chadan Mahto. With its loosely drafted script and lackluster execution, as well as poor acting performances from the supposed lead actors, Khakee feels more like an extended episode of Crime Patrol than a standalone series. Who should watch it? If forced to watch Khakee again, I’d watch it for Ashutosh Rana’s treacherous character and maybe for the fact that it's based on a true story. I also love watching criminal-police dramas where one tries to outfox the other. If you don’t have the same taste, you’re better off not watching Khakee at all. Rating: 2 stars Director: Bhav Dhulia Actors: Karan Tacker, Avinash Tiwary Run time: 5.5 hrs (approx.)