Pill Review: Riteish Deshmukh’s sincere efforts bear rich fruits in this ‘who-all-dunnit’ medical drama!
Pill
Pill mirrors the unearthing of an ‘invisible to the human eye’ kind of medical scam which eventually exposes the nexus between medical personnel and pharma companies.
There were many who had their own doubts about Riteish Deshmukh choosing the web series ‘Pill’ to mark his OTT debut. But, it's only towards the end of the eight-part series that the audiences get convinced that there could not have been a better ‘launch vehicle’ for this versatile actor in the seamless world of OTT! Kudos to the (fearless) director Raj Kumar Gupta for having chosen a subject like this, which could just act as an eye opener to many!
The eight-part series starts off with the introduction of a ‘deal’ in Sohi Hospital, which eventually becomes the core crux of the series. The deal involves greasing the palms of the medical personnel. This greasing of palms includes showering of gifts like ‘multiple zeroed fat cheques amongst many other fancy gifts!
This is followed by the Food Inspector Gursimrit Kaur (Anshul Chauhan) and her team being stopped from inspecting Forever Cure Pharma in Gurgaon. Post this, we are introduced to the life and lifestyle of Dr. Prakash Chauhan (Riteish Deshmukh), who gets transferred to the Medicine Authorities of India in Ghaziabad. It is here where his life takes a ‘substantial turn’. Little did he know that, it is here, where seeds will be sown for him to be majorly instrumental in unearthing a scam that did not even look like an iota of a scam!
Without giving out the spoilers, let us tell you that, after Dr. Prakash Chauhan gets transferred to Ghaziabad, his life crosses path with his selfless go-getter Gursimrit Kaur and an entertainment journalist Noor Khan, who wants to do something more substantial than covering ‘stars’ and their ‘bracelets’!
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And when the trio meet, they hatch a plan to gang up against the nefarious and super-powerful Brahma Gill (Pawan Malhotra), the head honcho of Forever Cure Pharma. Does the trio succeed in their mission or do they succumb to the pressures of the high and mighty is what forms the rest of the series.
What works in the favour of the eight-part series is its thoroughly well researched subject of the ‘invisible nexus’ which exists between the medical personnel and pharma companies. Even though many may not even be aware of such scams in real life, but, the conviction with which Raj Kumar Gupta has presented the series is definitely praise worthy. Complementing the near-perfect direction are the stellar performances by the starcast, which makes the series a total must watch!
Even though the series does not have any songs to stitch two situations together, it’s the apt background music that makes the series a true-blue edge of the seat thriller. Despite the lack of one-liner-punches, the intensity and the density of the dialogues more than makes up for it!
One really wonders as to what was the need for the director to show Riteish Deshmukh mouthing north-Indian style dialogues. Even though it does not act as any kind of hindrance in the series’ narrative, showing Riteish mouthing dialogues in a neutral accent could have meant no harm to the series, and would have only upped the relatability factor. The other aspect which required a bit of attention is the editing. Given the hardcore topic of the series, there are places when the narrative falls flat. Furthermore trimming at a bunch of places (in totality) could have just upped the narrative by notches.
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As for the performances, it totally rests on the able shoulders of Riteish Deshmukh, who is followed by his onscreen ‘partners in (unearthing the) crime’ Akshat Chauhan and Anshul Chauhan. Pawan Malhotra, on the other hand, as a no-nonsense, ruthless and opportunist businessman is top class. Rest of the actors help in carrying forward the narrative.
On the whole, ‘Pill’ has everything it takes to give you the chill and the thrill. Simply put, Pill is no sleeping pill, but will serve as a wake-up call for many people and will awaken them from their sleep! A must watch, by all means!