Kaantaye Kaantaye review: Saswata Chatterjee’s web series is too long

2/5

Kaantaye Kaantaye story: 

After their daughter died in a car crash, advocate PK Basu (Saswata Chatterjee) and his wife Rani (Ananya Chatterjee) go to North Bengal to recover from their grief. They visit their family friends Sujata (Ayoshi Talukdar) and Kaushik (Somraj Maity) who open a homestay there. A series of murders take place in Kolkata and North Bengal. As a number of characters get stranded in the homestay, PK Basu catches the culprit. 

Kaantaye Kaantaye review: 

Narayan Sanyal’s Kaanta series is essentially a borrowed work from Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries. Kaantaye Kaantaye is based on The Mousetrap — which gets acknowledged by the director as one of the characters, Nur Ali Baig (Kinjal Nanda), is seen reading the book. It has been adapted on the screen a number of times. Those who know the original story will find the series long and boring. 

The show has thrilling elements. Since it is a whodunit, those who are unaware of the result will find it intriguing till the end. The hills, power cuts, and darkness add to the pace. However, the same pace of the show occasionally gets hampered by the grieving couple PK Basu and Rani. While Je Raate Mor Duar Guli sounds beautiful, the music overall seems overwhelming and redundant. The show also gets stretched without any substantial reason. 

It is beautifully shot at picturesque locations. The sets and costumes look perfect. But there are inconsistencies. After two days of massive storms and torrential rain, it is practically laughable to see the chase sequence at the hills by the end of the show. 

The acting department has highs and lows. Saswata is gripping (his makeup is hideous). Ananya occasionally falters in the high-octane emotional scenes. On the other hand, she is a treat to watch in the scenes where Rani shows stoicism. Subrat Dutta is lovely. Somraj and Ayoshi’s performance is unidimensional. Meanwhile, Subhrajit Dutta and Abhijit Guha have little scope to do anything.   

Kaantaye Kaantaye verdict:

Kaantaye Kaantaye is a one-time watch for those who don’t know the story. You can give it a miss if you are a Christie fan.