Taish Review: Intricately Fleshed Out Characters in Visually Rich Frames

Taish:

Director: Bejoy Nambiar

Cast: Harshvardhan Rane, Jim Sarbh, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Zoa Morani and Ankur Rathee

Taish is a revenge drama thriller served both ways, it’s the same story told in a linear fashion in the film and more non-linearly in the series that are both streaming on Zee5.

Taish the film is fast paced and keeps you on the edge of the seat with clammy tension for most of the ride. Two storylines interweave in this tale with noir and pathos. Thug Pali played by Harshvardhan and his brother Khuli are warring in the gangster side of the story over Pali’s lover Jahaan played by a luminous Sanjeeda Sheikh. Jim Sarbh who plays Rohan leads the other storyline, his brother’s wedding provides a scenic backdrop. Pali’s side of the story is entirely in Punjabi so turn those subtitles on.

A secret from the past, passion, aggression and blind rage propels events into a climactic crescendo. With intricately fleshed out characters, director Bejoy Nambiar conjures up a visually rich offering with frames that would do his mentor Mani Ratnam proud. Nambiar has been bettering his craft with every film, and Taish is testament to that, it’s stylish and sleek. The ensemble cast consisting of Zoa Morani, Kriti Kharbanda, Ankur Rathee and a host of others are up to the task of wordlessly conveying emotions. Harshvardhan Rane as Pali bristles and takes centerstage, Jim Sarbh’s perturbing accent makes you wonder if there’s a backstory about his actual origins (spoiler alert: no it’s just his accent), but Jim’s performance is well-thought-out and earnest. Pulkit Samrat rakes up the charm his character Sunny needs to hook the audience.

The movie plot is packed so if you blink you might miss a few details, but the series on the other hand breathes out the scenes. I feel the sprawling story needs the span of a series to do it justice. If you must watch just one pick the series. I was engrossed enough to watch the movie and fill in the gaps with the series. The beautifully architected score layers the emotions and I suspect it’s going to go on many playlists.

This is Bejoy’s ship through and through and one thing is for sure, with Taish served two ways the capabilities of stories on Indian screens have expanded.

Rating: 3/5

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