Salt City review: This Sony LIV series is too dark and dramatic to handle

2.5/5

Story:

Harish (Piyush Mishra) pretends to be a family man. He has three sons and two daughters but no clue about their lives. As their stories unfold, the drama hidden in this family comes alive.

Review:

"Sabko lagta hai yeh ghar aa gaya, par iska ghar hai hi nahi," Divyendu's Saurabh talks about the sun in 'Salt City' Mumbai. This, however, holds true for the city the show is set in too.

Divyendu enters Salt City almost instantly as Saurabh and has his swag intact. You know trouble is brewing with all his actions - messing with the cops.

The story gets on track almost instantly with Manish Anand and Divyendu's conversation. Divyendu breaking down in Manish's arms is also one of the most powerful scenes in the series.

The struggles of Mumbai are also almost as instant. You also realize that the series has a lot about generation gap and in a way, the hypocrisy of Indian parents.

Manish's sarcasm is on point too as Aman. His toxicity screams loud in all the scenes, no matter who he converses with.

Piyush Mishra appears with Nivedita Bhattacharya and theirs is a light-hearted conversation too. Piyush's charm as Harish is almost instant. From deep conversations to losing his calm, everything about him is delightful. He tries to talk in Marathi and even that is so cute. Every non-Marathi talking person will find that moment fun, adorable and relatable.

Gauahar Khan is the romantic babe Gunjan who is too involved with the family. It, in a way, shows that she is beauty with the brains. She has some beautiful moments in the series. One example of that is her being flawless on the pole.

Pranay Pachauri is adorable as Nikhil. He has his moments which are complex but still beautiful.

Navni Parihar as Harish's wife is innocent but not dumb enough to not understand that something is wrong. She has very few shades but impresses nonetheless.

Monica Chaudhary as Ela has a fun entry. Her character is fun overall but stereotyped. Being the daughter of the house, she is expected to keep the house together and does. Her bond with Saurabh is explored the best. It is one of the purest relationships on the show.

Eisha Chopra as Esha is only fairly good. She hides a secret well but you don't completely understand why.

Jitin Gulati as Sukesh comes in the series later and he appears out-of-the-blue. However, you can connect the dots soon enough. He has a character that will somewhere disgust you.

Apeksha Porwal has a cameo appearance in the show. She appears as the timid kind.

The show becomes a little monotonous as it progresses. There's little to no interest left in the series as it goes on. The music barely helps the cause of the series too.

This series tries to be real in assuming pole dancing as nudity. The best part about this show is that it makes you believe every little thing.

Salt City pretends to be normal even when you can clearly see there's a lot that needs to be spoken about - that the family is dysfunctional. As expected, it takes a turn for the dark very soon.

As it comes to an end, Salt City becomes heartwarming. Saurabh's angst is one that makes for quite the scene. Piyush's wrath unfolding is also one you won't be able to forget.

This show ends on a very cryptic note. It leaves you wondering if the hint was for a new season or just a step towards a new beginning.

Verdict:

Most of Salt City is very between-the-lines and it is too hard to read the series. Furthermore, things get too intense and dark too fast, which, in a way, is given considering the subject. However, no family drama has gone so dark and dramatic at the same time and so it is too hard to handle, especially for those who watch shows to entertain their selves rather than seeing a reflection of themselves. While the content in the show is fairly good and its execution is also at par, the content itself is too hard to digest. Watch this one only if you are a hardcore fan of realistic family dramas.