“Jo chaaho woh har baar mil jaaye, toh zindagi aur khwaab mein fark kya reh jayega?” (If we get all that we wish for, then what would be the difference between life and dreams?). This dialogue from Bard of Blood holds true for those that were looking forward to the show, which promised cutting-edge action drama.
Bard Of Blood’ Review: Netflix Delivers the most important Letdown Of The Year
An action flick that shoots the script.
45%Overall Score
THE UPSHOT
Not even the impressive shoot-outs are enough to redeem this clunker of an espionage drama involving Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives, the Taliban and campaigners for Balochi independence.
Director: Ribhu Dasgupta
Writers: Bilal Siddiqi (novel), Mayank Tewari, Gaurav Verma
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vineet Kumar Singh, Kirti Kulhari, Jaideep Ahlawat
“Jo chaaho woh har baar mil jaaye, toh zindagi aur khwaab mein fark kya reh jayega?” (If we get all that we wish for, then what would be the difference between life and dreams?). This dialogue from Bard of Blood holds true for those that were looking forward to the show, which promised cutting-edge action drama.
Cross-border terrorism, Indian and Pakistani intelligence, the Taliban, Balochistan’s liberation movement, an off-the-book rescue mission and Shakespeare references… Bard of Blood had all the makings of an Indian espionage thriller for the ages. A high-profile collaboration between Netflix and Red Chillies Entertainment, the show was one among the foremost anticipated web series of the year. But in their ambitious plan to treat the audience to Hollywood grade action, the manufacturers have neglected something much more important, the script.
The story begins with four Indian agents in Balochistan getting captured by Talibs. The Taliban chief Mullah Khalid (Danish Hussain) is close to have them executed when Tanveer Shehzad (Jaideep Ahlawat), the Taliban handler of the ISA (fictional equivalent of the ISI), intervenes and convinces him to spare the four men for a brief while. Shehzad apparently features a plan that might serve the greater good.
Back in New Delhi , Sadiq Shaikh (Rajit Kapoor), the operations director of the IIW (fictional equivalent of RAW), summons his old protege Kabir Anand aka Adonis (Emraan Hashmi) so as to send him to Balochistan to rescue the captured agents. Kabir may be a former spy who now teaches Shakespeare to high school kids, hence the title Bard of Blood. He’s also frequently inclined to quote Shakespeare . That’s just about the extent of Shakespeare during this show, making the association appear to be juvenile literary swagger on the writers’ part.
Kabir is handling the trauma of a botched operation in Balochistan five years ago that led to the death of his comrade and ally Vikramjeet (Sohum Shah), and is therefore hesitant to return. But a sudden change in circumstances compels him to launch an unsanctioned mission along side Isha Khanna (Sobhita Dhulipala), the Balochistan analyst for IIW. They also usher in Veer Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh), an agent in Afghanistan nearly forgotten by the agency, and together they enter Balochistan.
What ensues may be a series of directionless high-octane action sequences that appear almost independent to the plot. within the first few episodes the story hardly moves forward, with our three protagonists simply running for his or her lives. The action sequences, though shot spectacularly with gorgeous aerial shots of the landscape, are unbelievable most of the time. Our trio is outnumbered by the enemy every single time, yet they manage to flee without much harm. During the climax, a flowery motorcycle materialises within the middle of nowhere for Kabir to ride.
The makers of the show have visibly drawn from Hollywood. A combat scene during a public bathroom reminds one among an identical episode in Mission Impossible: Fallout. Mullah Khalid, the Taliban chief, is portrayed a paedophile, a feature evidently borrowed from The Kite Runner. Yet, the show is riddled with Bollywood cliches. The Talibs and Balochis have generous amounts of kohl in their eyes. There’s a romantic angle that’s wholly unnecessary. and therefore the hero decides to kill the person together with his bare hands (and suffer few blows in return) when he could have shot him point blank.
Some aspects of the story just don’t add up. Kabir hatches an idea to urge himself kidnapped so as to satisfy an old acquaintance, when he could have just knocked on his door. Veer Singh has spent years shuttling between Afghanistan and Balochistan and has successfully infiltrated a Taliban group, yet he's shown to be incompetent on variety of occasions (Kabir calls him the weak link within the team). Isha has no experience on the sector and displays hesitation in killing a person early . But because the show progresses, she wields an AK-47 effortlessly and kills enemies by the dozen. Jannat Marri (Kirti Kulhari), who is Balochistan Azad Force (BAF) leader Nusrat Marri’s (Abhishekh Khan) sister, speaks Hindi flawlessly while the remainder of the Balochis (including her family members) converse either in Pashto or heavily accented Hindi.
The entire cast puts during a decent performance, a consolation for the below-par script. Emraan Hashmi does well as Kabir Anand, albeit his character is so arrogant that his painful backstory fails to elicit much sympathy. Vineet Kumar Singh is wonderful because the under-appreciated Veer. The brilliant Sobhita Dhulipala is very underused. Her character is usually at the mercy of her two male colleagues, and is time and again subject to misogynistic barbs. Kirti Kulhari, meanwhile, features a more powerful role and does justice because the young matriarch of the Marri family, flag-bearers of Balochistan’s liberation movement. Jaideep Ahlawat is terrific because the cunning and ever-scheming Pakistani intelligence operative, Tanveer Shehzad.
The cliffhanger ending within the last episode indicated that season two is on the cards. we will only hope that the manufacturers will pull up their socks and redeem themselves the second time around.
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