Kaala Paani review: Mona Singh leaves a lasting impression in this engaging survival drama

3.5/5

Sameer Saxena is back with a new offering on Netflix. After his comedy film Jaadugar, Saxena has returned with the survival drama Kaala Paani, which is co-directed by him and Amit Golani. The series was released today on the OTT giant.

Thinking about watching this survival drama? Go through our review of Kaala Paani first.

Also read: Kaala Paani new promo: Mona Singh tries to find the simplest explanation to save people from a bizarre illness

Kaala Paani story

Kaala Paani follows the stories of several people stranded on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after the outbreak of a mysterious illness. Is that all the Sameer Saxena and Amit Golani web show has to offer? Let's find out...

Kaala Paani review

For starters, Kaala Paani is the infamous colonial-era cellular prison located on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, in this series, it has been used as a metaphor for something else.

The story begins with Chiranjeevi Prabhu (Sukant Goel) introducing a young boy to the world of the Kaala Paani prison, where he's required to work. Despite repeated attempts to find out the meaning of Kaala Paani, the young boy is unable to gather information about the same from Chiranjeevi. Here's where the mystery of Kaala Paani begins.

As the story progresses, details of a big festival that will take place on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are revealed. Since a large number of tourists are expected to attend the festival, health protocols are required to be set. A multinational company's official (played by Rajesh Khattar) insists that Ketan Kamat (Amey Wagh) get permissions from Dr Soudamini Singh (Mona Singh).

Initially, Dr Singh refused to give permission owing to a mysterious illness on the islands. But she later caves in. While preparations for the festival are in full swing, an unconvinced Dr Singh, along with Ritu Gagra (Radhika Mehrotra), sets out on a mission to find out more about the illness that is gradually leading to multiple deaths on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

As fate would have it, the mysterious illness, which seems to be an epidemic, grips the entire Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The union territory is in a fix as the government and healthcare officials find it difficult to trace the illness.

The entire series is about what happens next.

Kaala Paani performances

Mona Singh leaves a lasting impression as Dr Soudamini Singh in the Netflix series. Amey Wagh's character has several layers, which adds more mystery to the tale.

Sukant Goel puts his heart and soul into playing his character, Chiranjeevi Prabhu, and his hard work has paid off. Radhika Mehrotra, as Ritu Gagra, is likely to leave you baffled due to her character traits.

Kaala Paani storyline

The storyline of Kaala Paani is engaging enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Having said that, the episodes could've been more crisp to make it a breezy watch. Although the characters have been carved out well, Kaala Paani goes off track at places in the process of narrating each character's tale. At times, it feels like the web show is about to lose the plot of unravelling the mystery of Kaala Paani.

Kaala Paani verdict

In short, Kaala Paani is a gripping tale with multi-layered characters. This series offers more thrills than you might have expected.

Also read: Kaala Paani 2023: Release date, OTT partner, trailer, plot, cast and more

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