'Charlie Chopra And The Mystery Of Solang Valley' review: Vishal Bhardwaj crafts a fun murder mystery

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Gulshan Grover, Wamiqa Gabbi, Neena Gupta

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Language: Hindi and Punjabi

Vishal Bhardwaj has spun some of his best works around Shakespeare. His latest, the web series called Charlie Chopra And The Mystery Of Solang Valley, looks towards Agatha Christie. Her novel The Sittaford Mystery finds inspiration in this show. When there’s mystery, there’s darkness (much lesser here as compared to the filmmaker’s previous outings) and a bit of snowfall too, and these aesthetics only add to the noir-like ambience. The star-cast is pretty solid, boasting of names like Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Neena Gupta, Gulshan Grover, and the rising star Wamiqa Gabbi, a spirited Punjabi girl who revels in solving mysteries.

Gabbi has to be one of Bhardwaj’s most feisty characters since Anushka Sharma in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. She’s boisterous, badass, and constantly breaks the fourth wall to interact with the viewers even though it does come to a breaking point after a point. Then there’s the cryptic Vivaan Shah, and his childlike demeanour and cutesy face help him in camouflaging his intent. After winning a game of chess, he utters, Sheh Aur Maut, before correcting himself.

No whodunit follows the simplistic route today, they enjoy delving into something murkier, and Bhardwaj being the man behind the lenses only adds the cherry of complexity and humor on the (dark) chocolate cake. The ball begins to roll when a murder is predicted at a seance by an eccentric Naseeruddin Shah after a photo frame breaks accidentally by Neena Gupta. It’s not just the frame that breaks into pieces, it’s the shield that hides the characters’ evil intentions.

Bhardwaj, along with his two other writers Jyotsna Hariharan and Anjum Rajabali, crafts a show that’s refreshingly devoid of gore, sex, and profanity. Lively could be the word used here, mostly because of the way Gabbi approaches her part along with her partner-in-crime, an enthusiastic journalist played by Priyanshu Painyuli. They both seem amateurs until they get the job done by smartly assembling evidence against the suspects.

The one issue with Charlie Chopra And The Mystery Of Solang Valley is that the magnanimity of its ensemble never allows all the characters to flourish or shine. Chandan Roy Sanyal, sparkling in Bhardwaj’s own Kaminey (2009) doesn’t get the same meat to chew on in his second collaboration with the filmmaker. Ratna Pathak Shah is perfectly cast as a wheel-chair bound old lady who knows a lot more than what meets her (and our) eyes, and merges the mystery around her character with moments of mirth. Only if there was more of her. It’s also nice to see Gulshan Grover and Lara Dutta back.

This isn’t a perfect whodunit, not even Bhardwaj’s best, but it does throw in multiple surprises at you, one particularly being steering clear of any content that could make you squirm with discomfort. It’s also vibrant and the landscape of Solang becomes familiar after a point. With titles like Kaminey and Kuttey, the filmmaker veered into a space of darkness, with this show, he does bring up the same set of emotions, only in broad daylight. Here, all the darkness is in the characters; a metaphor even Charlie Chopra would want to say to the viewers, obviously by breaking the fourth wall.