Bad Cop review: Gulshan Devaiah and Anurag Kashyap shine in this otherwise middling crime thriller series

Bad Cop, a crime thriller series that follows the beats of a cliche, Bollywood mass entertainer, is just about average but makes for a casual, fun watch! 

In the world of OTT, here is yet another cop drama that follows the same fashion of offering the audience nothing new except for some frantic action that might seem snazzy. But Bad Cop isn't a bad series even though it has no ambition or character. It is a generic crime thriller that you might enjoy for some mindless fun. (This review is based on six episodes out of eight!)

Arjun is a common fraudster who, with his partner Kiki (Aishwarya Sushmita), cheats and steals, while Karan is the good cop whose marriage is in shambles with his partner cum boss Devika (Harleen Sethi). In a double-the-trouble scenario, twin brothers Karan and Arjun (played by Gulshan Devaiah in a double role) end up in a cliche world of switching places with each other and that ends with one twist after another. As a determined CBI officer, Khan (Saurabh Sachdeva) is behind them to investigate the murder mystery of Anand Mishra, his journalist friend, while a crazy evil gangster, Kazbe (Anurag Kashyap) creates problems for them by running his smuggling ring of poaching inside from a jail. 

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Adapted from the 2017 German show of the same name, Aditya Datt's drama is too obsessed with Bollywood. So much so that one could call this series a marriage of long format with a trope of mass commercial Bollywood crime drama. But it also wants to be a satire of the same cliche crime thriller genre that we all know like the back of our hands. The problem is that it doesn't do justice to either in the wake of this duality. The set pattern drama is so packed with plot twists that it tells everything by always revealing something to you. For instance, every episode is staged as a twist in a larger scheme of things, but each one also has a cliffhanger ending. This overload lowers the story's shock value and sense of mystery.

Because of one too many shows out there, it's hard making a crime thriller these days as the audience is well-versed with the entire setup and cliche plot points. But that doesn't mean that random staging of events or little information should suffice for the depth of a cohesive story. Even the stereotyped characters are dialed up to the point where their typecast starts to feel rather odd like Kazbe's insane antics in jail. Using Bollywood songs like Phir Le Aya Dil or Chinta Chita doesn't help either!

What makes this show somewhat fun despite its faults is how it has been presented to you with stylistically lit scenes and experimental action sequences. The saving grace of Bad Cop is its ensemble cast that shoulders the task of mounting the show. Watching Gulshan Devaiah in an 'action' role is a delight while Anurag Kashyap as an actor is a gem of a find, especially as a gangster who is as funny as he is scary. And the always dependable Saurabh Sachdeva and Harleen Sethi deliver more of what is given to them for their characters. 

However, adding some eclectic elements doesn't cover up the lack of substance, and while experimentation is appreciated, it should be crafted so that we also enjoy the show's thrill and newness. This fast paced satirical take on cops and criminals makes middling drama that the OTT-verse is slowly turning towards. Whether this mass commercialization is good or bad, only time will tell! For now, the only way to enjoy watching Bad Cop is to give in to the show's belief and logic; otherwise, it's just a predictable concoction that you have seen one too many times. 

Bad Cop will stream weekly episodes on Disney+ Hotstar! 

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