The Mystery of Moksha Island Review: A moderately suspenseful survival thriller

3/5

The Mystery of Moksha Island Story

Vishwak Sen (Ashutosh Rana) is a renowned scientist in Moksha Island. One fine day, he passes away in a helicopter crash. On the other hand, many individuals receive letters stating that they are the legal heirs of Vishwak Sen and that to inherit his property, they need to come to Moksha Island. A big group of different families come to the island and find out that they are not single to inherit the throne. Why did Vishwak Sen call them to the island? What is his actual motto? Did the family members survive the tests to inherit the property? To know the answers, one needs to stream the eight-episode series on Disney + Hotstar.

The Mystery of Moksha Island Review

The Mystery of Moksha Island is directed by popular filmmaker Anish Yohan Kuruvilla. He has chosen a survival thriller which has a very interesting backdrop. To make things look grand, he has chosen a very popular star cast which has many seasoned actors in lead roles. The first thing that catches your imagination in The Mystery of Moksha Island is the scale of the series. It is set on a mysterious island and the location chosen itself gives you a unique vibe of a solid survival thriller.

But did Anish Kuruvilla impress you with The Mystery of Moksha Island, well, the answer is a partial yes. Ashutosh Rana plays Vishwak Sen and it is his empire and he is the one who has called his family to inherit his property. But the actual motto behind is something else and this has been showcased at the end of the series.

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The eight-episode series started on a very impressive note. How each character is invited to the island looks good. By the end of the first episode, Anish gives an idea that there is something else that is happening on the island by showcasing the death of a key character. This sets up the tone of the series quite well. But after that, the second and third episodes are dull as the story does not move much.

As there are too many stories in the narrative, it is hard to balance them in a series. This is where the series falters. There are so many deaths happening and the required panic in the narrative is not elevated properly. Even after losing their loved ones, how the family members panic in a not-so-encouraging way looks weird. Anish should have added more panic in the narrative and this would have taken things to another level.

But once the story is unleashed properly and the survival game begins, the series becomes quite interesting. The grand beachside visuals and confusion about the killing of family members add to the drama. One also gets a feeling that Anish added too many characters to the narrative and this dilutes the plot. If there had been four to five fewer characters in the series, the impact would have been even better.

The climax is unleashed solidly and the way, the actual twist in the plot is revealed looks good. Coming to the performances, it is Nandu who gets the meaty part. The young actor has finally got to showcase his talent as he is the mainstay of the series. Next to him is Akshara Gowda, who gets a key negative role and she is amazing.

Ashutosh Rana brings a lot of depth to the series with his screen presence. Tejaswini Madiwada also gets a good role. It was surprising to see Roshan Kanakala in such a bold role and boy he was good. Be it his look or the way he performs his tense role was so good to see on screen. Bhanu Chander, Sudha, Samrat, Khayyum, and Siva were good in their roles.

But Anish has given Priya Anand a solid role in the series and the twist that she brings in is superb. One can also say that the presence of some popular stars makes The Mystery of Moksha Island quite good to watch on screen. One of the biggest assets of the show is the production design.

The props used, and the way the island is showcased give the series an international feel. For a Telugu show, The Mystery of Moksha Island is quite rich in visuals and best in recent times. The editing could have been a bit better in mid-episodes. The dialogues, art direction, action blocks, and twists have been narrated well.

Yet another major drawback of the series is dubbing which is pathetic. The dialogues are not at all in sync and look weird in the setup. In a way, The Mystery of Moksha Island had all the trapping of a tight thriller but the panic that is needed in such thrillers is missing in the show. But still, The Mystery of Moksha Island makes for a passable watch this weekend.

The Mystery of Moksha Island Verdict

On the whole, The Mystery of Moksha Island is a passable series that has decent thrills. Though the pace dips a bit in the middle episodes and the panic needed is missing, the presence of popular actors, sold visuals, and decent action keeps you at bay. If you are the ones who love survival thrillers, The Mystery of Moksha Island can easily be given a shot as such content is rare in Telugu.

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