Only if you had been living under a rock would you have missed the excitement and the controversy that is Tandav. With a quote by Polish philosopher Leszek Kołakowski—‘In politics being deceived is no excuse’—the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed political drama, headlined by Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia, kicked off on the night of January 14.
Right from the first scene, the Amazon Prime original borrowed from Indian politics of the last few years, of course, tweaking it here and there. So JNU becomes VNU, AIIMS is IICMS and as for dynastic politics, well that was the central plot. The script unabashedly weaves in elements of both the BJP and the Congress in its plotline, dialogues and characters.
Khan as Samar Pratap Singh is an ambitious politician and an authoritarian to boot. In his own words, he is “a privileged politician prince”. Power-hungry, Samar is not afraid to go the extra mile to get what he wants. Then there is the enigmatic Kapadia, who makes her digital debut. She is back on screen after a long hiatus. Her last outing was Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. In Tandav, with her gold-bordered saris the actor lends a touch of old school reliability and class. Her daughter Twinkle Khanna tweeted her praise regarding her mother’s acting skills: “Mama bear is still the best and that is my biased opinion.”
Kritika Kamra, who plays Sana Mir, a student of political science studying in Delhi, says, “I was blown away by Gaurav Solanki’s writing. It was amazing that content like this was being written.” Originally from Kashmir, Sana is politically active, an idealist and bothered by what is going on around her, which is why she wants to be a journalist. However, as the show progresses, you find out that there’s more to her than meets the eye, and that she is hiding something. “Sana is a mysterious character until you find out what her secrets are, and how that impacts the lives of those around her,” explains Kamra.
Also part of the show is our dependable host from Crime Patrol, Annup Sonii. He plays politician Kailash Kumar. “Kailash is someone who’s not into cut-throat competition. He follows certain ethics, rules and principles. Now we all know that there are no principles in politics, but Kailash is someone who wants power. And he does not want it by going and getting someone killed. He might pull a few strings here and there, be diplomatic and use his resources to get what he wants, but he is a dignified man, calm and composed,” says Sonii.
Tandav has many firsts to its credit. This is the first film that has been shot inside Khan’s Pataudi Palace near Gurugram in Haryana, with the Nawab of Pataudi claiming, “The Pataudi Palace can make anyone look royal.” Also, stand-up comedian Sunil Grover makes his OTT debut. Unlike his humorous portrayals on TV, here he plays the cunning and ruthless Gurpal Chauhan. A multi-layered character, Gurpal is Samar’s right-hand man to do all his dirty deeds.
Both Kamra and Sonii believe that this is the best time for actors. “OTT has given writers the freedom to think, instead of tying them down with guidelines on what sells and what doesn’t. In the 90s, television was all about content, which is what is happening now. Today, the writer knows that there is an audience for his content, since they have reacted positively to new stories and actors,” says Sonii. Agrees Kamra, “Before 2000, TV was very progressive and content was created with a lot of heart. Then the whole TRP thing started and it turned TV into a factory manufacturing daily soaps. OTT is not only as good as TV back then, but has surpassed that too.”
But what about the impending OTT censorship rule? Sonii calls for self-censorship, but is candid enough to admit that when things start, they often go haywire. “But eventually everything settles down. It is the audience which decides what they want to see. When they reject something it means they are telling us not to take them for granted or misuse the freedom which you have been given. Official censorship should not be there because that would restrain writers.”
Censorship or not, there are rumours abuzz that Zafar is all ready with the second season of the show. Overall, with each of its present nine episodes safely under 40 minutes, Tandav offers snackable content with a tangy bite.