| Starcast | Sakshi Tanwar, Wamiqa Gabbi, Raima Sen, Vivek Mushran, Jay Shankar Pandey, Ravish Srivastava |
| Director | Anshai Lal & Atul Mongia |
Netflix’s latest Indian web series Mai is out and is grabbing the eyeballs of the audience. The show is the story of three leading ladies; Sakshi Tanwar, Wamiqa Gabbi and Raima Sen. While Sakshi plays the protagonist of the story, Raima is the antagonist and Wamiqa Gabbi stays the reason and logic behind how the story heads forwards. Apart from these females in the lead, Mai also stars various proclaimed actors like Vivek Mushran, Jay Shankar Pandey, Ravish Srivastava, Prashanth Narayanan and many more in pivotal roles.
The plot of this six-episode long web series is the story of a mother (Sakshi Tanwar) who has made up her mind of finding and punishing the people behind the death of her daughter after witnessing her daughter die in a truck accident. Though it seemed like any other accident at first, there was something that poked the mother and made her believe that it was a full-fledged planned murder. And in this journey, she comes across and fights gangsters, the underworld, politics, and a lot more which makes the series an intense, crime-thriller to watch. It has emotions, mysteries, twists, turns and various mind-blowing & nail-biting scenes.
We have never had doubts about the acting skills of Sakshi Tanwar. We believe before Mai, her skills were very underrated. No one can disagree with the fact that Sakshi Tanwar is the hero and show stealer of the show. Her incredible acting skills ensure that every individual who watches Mai, adds to the list of her fans by the time the series ends. In the plot, she played a character who is on a mission to take revenge, but her hold on her emotions is one thing that will make you fall in love with her. Be it the emotional, angry or the scenes where she introspects, she nailed the show with her performance.
Heading toward the performance of Wamiqa Gabbi, it’s visible that she has put all her heart and soul into making sure she sprinkles sparkles in every scene where she has the screen space. She plays a mute but extremely brilliant and talented stand-up comedian. As the story heads forward, her characters’ layers also unfold and leave the audience stunned. It surely wouldn’t be an easy task to leave a mark with only acting and expressing, without uttering a single dialogue throughout the story.
Sakshi and Wamiqa are undoubtedly the story’s two stars, but any dramatic story remains incomplete without the contribution of the antagonist in it. Raima Sen, who is loved for her performance in movies like Parineeta, Bastu Shaap, Shabdo and many more, played the vamp in Mai. Revealing much about her character will spill the spoilers for you, hence, we are keeping this for you to decode yourself. But, one thing that can be concluded for sure is Raima Sen not only surprises fans with this negative character but will also prove to be a top-notch actress once again.
Apart from these, the performance of supporting, pivotal and other small characters have also contributed finely to enhancing the overall look and feel of this project. Ankur Ratan in the uniform of a Special Police Force Officer will also catch your attention at various points as he is one character who connects the dots and helps you unveil the mystery slowly.
Any project cannot be reviewed without talking about the work of the director. We have immensely praised the acting skills of the actors, but the men who have given direction to these brilliant talents are Anshai Lal & Atul Mongia. While Anshai Lal has marked his debut brilliantly with Mai, Atul Mongia is one movie (Phillauri) old in the field. And both of them have done their job quite well. The only thing that could have been better was the crispiness of the story. There are moments where some scenes seem to be unnecessarily exaggerated and dragged, which eventually makes the pace of the story slow.
Before writing about how well the feel of the film justifies its theme, we would mention, if you’re a person who loved it when the color tones and shades of the film match the intense drama in it, Mai is going to impress you. But if the dark screen and warm colors irritate you, it might become a bit of discomfort in your watch experience. Apart from the color scheme chosen, the cinematography also is decent. Especially the close-up shots, because they help you connect with the emotions of the character even more.
Now heading towards concluding this review, Mai is good but could have been outstanding if some scenes were kept short and crisp. Wherever the series loses its pace, it affects the attention and interest graph of the viewer. Also, since Mai is a crime drama with thrill and mysteries in it, it could have done a better job if the troubles faced by Sakshi were more relatable and easier to accept. Will you be convinced if you’re told a common lady can easily escape all the trouble she faces while fighting or tracking people from the underworld? No, right? Exactly! This is the problem with Mai.
But this doesn’t mean that Mai no more deserves you to binge-watch it. It surely is a must-watch because it fulfills the three bars of a perfect crime-thriller; gripping, nail-biting and mysteries. So, if you’re a fan of the genre, Sakshi Tanwar, Wamiqa Gabbi, Netflix India, or just looking for something good to watch, Mai is there for you.
