Indian Police Force: Rohit Shetty’s Cop Universe Needs To Stop Expanding

ROHIT SHETTY’s Indian Police Force, a seven-episode series on the bravery of Delhi Police, is a strange beast. It walks like a Rohit Shetty film, talks like a Rohit Shetty film, and refuses to make sense — like a Rohit Shetty film. The difference in the ecosystem makes no difference to it. Shetty’s recent work does not care that it is situated in the streaming space where the rules of engagement differ from a feature film. The result is an agonising watch with such a listless group of actors that the ever-roving camera emerges as the most active participant of the venture.

If there was a dime for every time one has to write about a Hindi language show whose premise centres on an impending bomb blast and a Muslim man with kohled eyes waiting to blow up India, I wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent in Mumbai. With every passing day the number is only increasing. But even within the hackneyed setting, one can do things differently if one tries. With the first season of The Family Man (2019), that revolved around an intelligence officer whose family is in the dark about his profession, filmmakers Raj and DK showed how it's done by outlining the difference between nationalism and patriotism, and more crucially by peering into the corroding soul of the country.

Shetty, who is making his digital debut with Indian Police Force, does not share the intent and the outing possesses neither the tools nor the language to make such nuanced commentary. The farthest the director goes in this direction is implying that not all Muslims are terrorists but never entertains the idea that a terrorist may not be Muslim.

In the series, he depicts a good Muslim and bad Muslim. Needless to say, the difference between them is stark. The bad Muslim, who is the terrorist of course, refers to everyone as “miyah”, calls out “Allah” every five minutes, misses his “ammi”, prays on “jumma”, and cooks biryani for his brother. On the other hand, the former is a law-enforcement officer and is never shown to pray. He dresses a certain way, talks a certain way as if, Shetty insists, he is a….Hindu.

Things are not just this blatant in the show, they’re equally as silly. The opening credits are punctuated with “Jai Hind”, the house in which the terrorist lives is swathed in green, a crucial scene where a cop is chasing a terrorist has saffron-coloured clothes framing the moment, and in his haste to glorify the valour of cops, Shetty promptly offers not one reason why the terrorists are doing what they are doing. I get that he is bombing different cities but there has to be a bigger reason for it. Something, anything?

Looking for logic in a Rohit Shetty outing can be a futile pursuit. Indian Police Force, directed by Shetty and Sushwanth Prakash, is a thematic extension of his cop universe where the Delhi police, otherwise notorious for using force, is portrayed as a benign and potent enforcer. There is Vikram Bakshi (Vivek Oberoi), his subordinate SP Kabir Malik (Sidharth Malhotra) and their colleague Tara Shetty (Shilpa Shetty) out to look for a man who is wreaking havoc in different parts of the country. His first city of choice was Delhi. It takes them some years, a couple of songs and some false leads to reach the destination. On paper it is a cat and mouse chase.

But none of the intensity translates. For one, the entire series appears to have been shot against a green screen. The VFX is abominable and the camera ensures that at any given point of time we are aware where any character is. Thus every outdoor scene which does not include a fight unfolds like this. We first see the man talking, the camera then elevates slightly, then elevates even more and then even more till the person is a dot. Inversely, for action or interrogation scenes, Shetty opts for long cuts.

And between them, reality goes up for a toss. Indian Police Force is always in such a hurry to showcase the swag of the cops that it never pauses to reflect on the repercussions of the things happening on screen. Thus, shots are fired in public places with zero casualties, people cross borders like they are crossing roads, and above all, Indian police officers go about achieving their target like no one can pose a threat. In the midst, it is the viewers who sit a little hassled and a little shocked at the show’s promise of newer seasons.-