Star Cast: Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Kubbra Sait, Neeraj Kabi
Director: Prakash Jha
Synopsis:
SANKALP is the story of a man who plays a dangerous game. Kanhaiyalal (Nana Patekar) runs a school for the intelligent and sharp kids called Gurukul from his palatial residence in Patna. The Gurukul passouts, who are interested in becoming IPS and IAS officers, are enrolled in Kanhaiyalal's Chanakya Coaching Centre, Delhi. All the students swear by Kanhaiyalal, whom they lovingly address as 'Maant Saab', and can go to any lengths to fulfil his wishes. Three such alumni are Inspector Aditya Verma (Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub), Inspector Vasudev Ranjan (Saurabh Goyal) and Delhi Police DCP Parveen Sheikh (Kubbra Sait). All three have earned a name for themselves and are well-respected in police circles. Meanwhile, Kanhaiyalal takes a deep interest in the happenings in Delhi, which is soon going to hold elections. The CM, Prashant Singh (Sanjay Kapoor), is in an uneasy alliance with K C Majumdar (Danish Iqbal) and needs his support to win the elections. He's ably guided by his advisor, Waqar Mapillah (Neeraj Kabi), but their life is shaken by certain setbacks. Interestingly, they soon realize that these obstacles are not created by opposition but by Kanhaiyalal, with whom they have a past enmity. In Patna, Kanhaiyalal faces a litmus test when Aditya mistakenly fires at the former. Aditya is devastated and asks for forgiveness. Kanhaiyalal demands that Aditya quit the police force. He declines and this creates a rift between the mentor and protege. This is when Prashant and Waqar decide to enlist Aditya in Delhi to get back at Kanhaiyalal. What happens next forms the rest of the series.
Sankalp Story Review:
Reshu Nath's story has a lot of promise, but Prasad Kumar's screenplay leaves a lot to be desired. A few scenes, however, are deftly written. Chandan Kumar's dialogues are realistic and dramatic. A few one-liners are intentionally funny and could have been avoided.
Prakash Jha's direction is decent. Like AASHRAM, SANKALP is also a mass-appealing and rooted show. In fact, ever since the OTT boom, he is the only one to come up with shows that appeal to the lowest common denominator. The rest of the shows have some degree of elitism, while Prakash nicely avoids it. He has also chosen a strong plot for his show – a Machiavellian character who, over the years, has strategically planted his loyalists in key positions of power, all of whom are willing to go to any lengths for him. Yet, he is not an entirely righteous figure and has committed, and continues to commit, several wrongdoings in pursuit of his goal. A few scenes are memorable like Kanhaiyalal performing ‘shraadh’ for his favourite protégé, the recruitment of Manjhan, Parveen going all alone to rescue a young girl, Prashant Singh and Waqar at their wits' end while dealing with Kanhaiyalal etc.
On the flipside, we are living in times when web series are often crisp and shorter. Those days of 10 episodes of more than 40-50 minutes runtime are long gone. In that regard, SANKALP belongs to the pre-2024 era and seems dated. It is too long – almost 7 hours and 50 minutes – with the last episode’s duration being 63 minutes. This would have still not been a problem had the show been engaging. However, there are places where the interest level drops. Some characters and tracks are forgotten for long periods. Moreover, the events that led to the change of equation between the principal characters should have been sensible. However, a few such events are so bewildering and highly amusing that one wonders how it got approved. It would have been okay if it had happened initially and if the makers had ended the show on a high. Sadly, one such silly development takes place in the last 15 minutes, which dilutes the impact big time. Moreover, Prakash Jha set a benchmark with AASHRAM and SANKALP is nowhere close.
Sankalp Performances:
Nana Patekar is the only actor who could have played this part with the required mix of vulnerability and strength, and he rocks the show. Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub impresses in a challenging role. Kubbra Sait comes up with a restrained and effective act. Saurabh Goyal has limited screen time compared to the other two but leaves a mark. Sanjay Kapoor is decent but initially, his act is laughable as he is repeats the dialogue ‘What the f**k is happening’ every few minutes. Later, he puts up a fine act. Neeraj Kabi is too good. The actor has delivered several memorable performances and this is surely one of his best. Kranti Prrakash Jha (Kasturi) has a late entry but makes up for it with his performance. Meghna Malik (Suhasini) is the soul of the show and does very well. Bhagwan Tiwari (Sankarshan) is decent. Tushar Pandey (Sattu) is horribly wasted and one wonders what exactly was the reason to add him. Danish Iqbal, Roop Durgapal (Madhuri; Aditya's wife), Sheen Dass (Jayanti), Jitendra Rai (Tarkeshwar), Nitin Parashar (Musa), and others are fair.
Sankalp music and other technical aspects:
SANKALP is a song-less show. Wayne Sharpe's theme music is catchy and dramatic. Advait Nemlekar's music is appropriate. Chandan Kowli's cinematography is satisfactory. Udai Prakash Singh's production design is realistic. The real-life sets are impressive, especially the residence of the protagonist. Priyanka Mundada's costumes and Sham Kaushal's action are straight out of life. Santosh Mandal's editing could have been crisper.
Sankalp Review Conclusion:
On the whole, SANKALP rests on a compelling storyline and strong performances by Nana Patekar and the other lead actors. However, the excessive length, silly goings-on and weak climax dilute the impact. Nevertheless, the show should manage to garner viewership due to its mass-appealing treatment and casting.
Rating - 2.5 stars
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