Black Widows Review: An enthralling murder mystery with a dash of dark humour. Good girls can go dark for all the right reasons!
ZEE5’s newest thriller, Black Widows, promises to intrigue and entertain with a power packed cast featuring Mona Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Shamita Shetty and Sharad Kelkar in pivotal roles. It also boasts of a great ensemble cast.
Cast: Mona Singh, Shamita Shetty, Swastika Mukherjee, Sharad Kelkar, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Amir Ali, Shruti Vyas, Faisal Malik and Nikhil Bhambhari
Director: Birsa Dasgupta
Creative Producer: Namit Sharma
Original Score: Aditya Pushkarna (NoizzeBoxx)
DoP: Shubhankar Bhar
Editor: Sumit Chowdhury
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
This is a tale of romance, betrayal and murder, albeit with a twist. In this era of crime thrillers, Black Widows, a farcical remake of a Finnish drama by the same name, is sure to stand apart as a series with its dark humour and sense of intrigue!
Black Widows is the story of vindication of three women, Veera (Mona Singh), Jayati (Swastika Mukherjee) and Kavita (Shamita Shetty) against their philandering husbands in an attempt to end the misery in their wed-locked lives. The trio plan a “memorable” holiday at a picturesque lakeside property and plant a bomb in the speed boat that their respective husbands use to get across the lake.
The first part of the 12-episode series opens with shots of a scenic holiday paradise and the revelry of three men on a speed boat, which within a few minutes goes up in flames. Shortly thereafter, we are given a sneak peek into the married lives of the trio in flashback. It showcases how each of the married couples are miserable in their wedlock and the blast is a celebration of the end of the misery for the three wives.
But just as they begin to move on in life with more positive relationships, an unexpected turn of events places cops on their trail as the timer used to detonate the lethal bomb on the boat is recovered by sleuths.
The crime is vividly displayed and its retribution is lurid. This grim drama has a thread of tension running through the series, rooting for the interest of the viewers right up to the very last episode of the 12 part series. It does keep you glued to the screen. The narrative is gripping and the cinematography only adds visual appeal to the tale of vengeance.
The ‘black’ widows try to put up a strong façade in front of suspicious cops and society at large. Their new-found sense of liberation hits a roadblock as the demons of the past come back to haunt them. One of the three husbands, Jatin (Sharad Kelkar), survives the blast and is determined to strike back.
This web series touches upon the age-old theme of women taking revenge on those who add darkness to their lives. Starting from the Greek mythological classic Medea, scores of movies and books have touched upon this theme, where the woman protagonist takes revenge on those who harmed them.
Here, too, the three female leads are depicted in a strong light. Right from the start, audiences can’t help rooting for them, somewhere justifying the brutal crime of murder that they have committed. Mona Singh looks stunning on screen and is convincing in her part as the ravishing Veera.
Actor Shamita Shetty, who has made a comeback after a long hiatus, plays her role with elan and is excited to be a part of this project. “Black Widows is a well-known international show and the entire team, including me are blessed to be a part of the project. It’s not your run-of-the-mill storyline and at the same time, it is a genre that has not been explored as much in India as it has been internationally.”
Another face that has become very popular in the OTT space, Aamir Ali, delivers yet another power performance as Eddie, a character that is completely different from his much-applauded role of Keshwani in Naxalbari. Raima Sen and Parambrata Chattopadhyay, both great actors, are also outstanding in the supporting roles they play. Their characters takes the story forward and brings a lot of drama to the narrative.
We see revenge blossom into sisterhood as the three friends come together to protect one another. But when their lives come under threat, this friendship is put to the real test as squabbles begin and their paths lead in different directions.
A remake of a 2014 Finnish TV series, Muskat Lesket, Black Widows is a brave experiment in dark humour genre, a theme not oft explored in India. The much-awaited Indian version is the eighth remake of the drama, after versions in Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, the Middle East, Mexico, Scandinavia and the Czech Republic.
“ZEE5 has seen exponential growth since its launch on the back of great content and technology. With over 100 Original web series and films across genres and languages, our aim is to continue to offer consumers with content that is real, relevant and relatable. Black Widows is an engaging story featuring strong female protagonists, plenty of suspense and a large dose of dark humour,” said Tarun Katial, Chief Executive Officer, ZEE5 India.
A power-packed cast, a tight storyline with elements of mystery and humour and a localised script created especially for Indian audiences makes Black Widows truly binge-worthy. The show premiered on ZEE5 on December 18.