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“Celebrating Life”
By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | July 14, 2024 Rating: 2.5/5 The Essence: If you’re looking for a light, suspenseful watch with some strong individual performances, 36 Days […]
By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | July 14, 2024
Rating: 2.5/5
The Essence: If you’re looking for a light, suspenseful watch with some strong individual performances, 36 Days might be worth a try. However, if you crave a deeply layered mystery with a satisfying twist, you might want to look elsewhere.
Bordering on delusional while grappling to hold on to sanity, Faisal Rashid as Riad in 36 Days gives a roaring performance. Despite the plot, screenplay, and characters around him not holding their own, Faisal, as a man whose marriage has been put on the rocks by his eccentric mother (Shernaz Patil), stands tall amidst the rubble, almost dusting himself off with theatrical elan.
Standing beside him as the wife wronged by her mother-in-law and trying to hold her own in her marriage is Palvi Jaswal as Shonali. With limited screen time, both Faisal Rashid and Palvi Jaswal make the best of their moments on screen, delivering flawless performances as a couple in distress, wanting to make their marriage work.
Mind you, 36 Days, directed by Vishal Furia, is not about Faisal and Palvi. The central character is Neha Sharma, portraying the role of Farah Zaidi, who rents a bungalow at Casa de Magnolia in Goa. These are select bungalows where the central characters reside. The landlord is Tony, played by Chandan Roy Sanyal.
The eight-part web series begins with the murder of Farah Zaidi. Binaifer (Shernaz Patel) points to Farah’s bungalow after finding her on the floor with blood all over. Vishal Furia then takes us to 35 days before, as he begins to dissect the murder and what led to it. 36 Days is an adaptation of 35 Days, a Welsh mystery from 2014.
The first episode is all over the place, failing to keep the viewer interested. What’s jarring is the makeup of every actor. There’s a layer of white, and the foundation on every actor is so thick that you fear it will crack if there’s even a hint of emotion. The lighting makes things worse as the white is highlighted even further. This is an immediate put-off! Mercifully, as the episodes progress, the makeup does get better.
In 36 Days, every character has a secret, and it all culminates as the series progresses. While the plot is not-so-gripping, the finale does get you to the edge of your seat. There’s a flash of finesse, leaving you with the question: should you recycle gifts?
Apart from Faisal Rashid and Palvi Jaswal, K C Shankar as Noel, the bad man, shines, giving a Goan vibe to the villain while still maintaining a semblance of notoriety. It was fun to watch him emote with a sense of comic timing in some scenes. The same cannot be said about Shiwan Patil, playing Bobo, a drug peddler, who is supposed to have a mean streak. His portrayal of Bobo borders on the comical, with not a hint of negativity in his bones.
Chandan Roy Sanyal as Tony is like Rinku Singh from Kolkata Knight Riders—expected to score 34 runs in the last over. He does try his best, but the writing lets him down. It’s a tragedy to see an actor of his repute struggling to keep pace with a bland script.
Chahat Vig, who debuts as Sia, manages to hold a few scenes on her own. The model from Pathankot, Punjab shows promise and will need to work on her dialogue delivery and body language to become a complete package for Bollywood. Amruta Khanvilkar has seen better plots as an actor. Ditto Purab Kohli. Sharib Hashmi sleepwalks through his role. No conviction in his body language, and that to a large extent is the result of loose character analysis in the writing stage.
There’s not much Neha Sharma could do. In the last two episodes, she does, however, show her acting prowess when there’s room for improvisation. But these scenes are few. To be fair, the writers (Seneca Mendonsa and Anahita Menon) do try to keep the intrigue moving into the last two episodes, helping the actors lift their performances a notch higher.
If you’re looking for a light, suspenseful watch with some strong individual performances, 36 Days might be worth a try. Also, the eight episodes are just under 35 minutes, and that is a huge plus for a viewer to complete the series in one go. However, if you crave a deeply layered mystery with a satisfying twist, you might want to look elsewhere.
CREDITS
Producers: Sameer Nair, Deepak Segal, Sameer Gogate
Director: Vishal Furia
Star Cast: Neha Sharma, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Chahat Vig, Purab Kohli, Faisal Rashid, Palvi Jaswal, K C Shankar
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