One look at Tigmanshu Dhulia’s thriller series Garmi and you’ll have a ‘deja-vu’ experience of watching his first directorial film Haasil, a critically-acclaimed crime drama, very much imbued in the backdrop of college politics in a small town. But Garmi, though it borrows some elements from Irrfan Khan and Jimmy Shergill starrer, it is a whole new story in itself with a more refined outlook of characters and their myriad virtues.
Arvind Shukla (played by Vyom Yadav), a young, rebellious guy is reluctant to fall to the whims of his father who wants him to pursue UPSC preparation from a renowned university. Just like the title, Arvind has that innate anger that comes out only when he is provoked. It lies dormant like a volcano ready to erupt. It is there but is carefully concealed by the veil of serenity around his identity. When he finally succumbs to his parents relentless coaxing, he admits himself to Trivenipur University (modelled after Allahabad University) where a new life awaits him, one which involves crossing paths with other stakeholders of the series, Govind Maurya (played by Anurag Thakur) and Bindu Singh(played by Puneet Singh) and their respective factions, both vying over to take reigns of college politics. To add more spice to that cocktail, there are characters like Bairagi Baba(played by Veneet Kumar) and rogue cop Mrityunjay Singh (played by Jatin Goswami) who are invisible accessories wanting to cement their foot in the college elections.
For Arvind Shukla from Lalgunj, an otherwise meek and inexperienced lad with the ambition to crack UPSC, slowly gets embroiled in the murk of things when he suffers a horrendous setback at the college, an unfortunate circumstance that unleashes the caged animal out of him. It sends him down the path of revenge and puts him up on the radar of another sought out candidate for power, an opportunity that can propel him to the farthest reaches of politics or bring him closer to his dream of bureaucracy. How Arvind Shukla navigates through this meandering web forms the crux and soul of Garmi. As intense and volatile as the premise is, the purlieus of the show seems to be heavily-inspired by the zealous college politics culture of Allahabad (now Prayagraj).
If someone has followed Tigmanshu Dhulia’s work over the years, it’s not hard to observe how meticulous he is in bringing the best of realism to his stories without compromising with the commercial aspects of it. Garmi is another example of that trait. While there are some over-the-top sequences that one might not envision in real life, it is promptly backed by the grittiness of the story and the motives of the characters, something that as a viewer will feel blatantly relatable. He uses humour judiciously to veer off from things getting too serious. He evokes a softer, poignant side of Arvind with the help of a love track. He doesn’t shy away or disappoint you with subtle commentary on caste identities in smaller towns. His introduction of baddies can be deemed synonymous to that of film-makers that love the flavour of ‘mass’ to their characters.
But even with the loaded ammo of a remarkable script and a brilliant story, Garmi does falter in the domains of direction. With so many characters and so many sub-plots and motives, the show takes its sweet time to invest you in its world. Setting aside some obvious loopholes, Garmi loses its way in between only to pick up in the last few episodes. You get a sense of perturbing disconnect due to its execution, especially when the maker is trying to fit the pieces together and it takes a couple of episodes to get the gist.
Technically, Garmi is surely a visual extravaganza that impeccably captures the ethos of Allahabad University, its age old Victorian architecture, and the adrenaline-pumping gunfight sequences. Tigmanshu Dhulia and cinematographer Shaailesh Aawasthi has used POV shots in some scenes and that lends gravitas to the premise. The attention to little details is immaculate and boasts of the maker’s adroitness towards presenting an intriguing story in style. The background score and music is another takeaway. While the intro track ‘Garmi Hai Seene Mein’ is a cross-genre track incorporating the elements of rock, punk and metal, Fayda feels menacing owing to its jazz undertones fused with haunting vocals. Rev Shergill is truly an underrated composer destined to make it big with his musical sensibilities evident from his previous collaboration with Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film Yaara. On the other hand, Siddarth Pandit with the tracks Yaariyan, Doobe Doobe and Elaka captivates you enormously.
On the acting front, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s decision to rope in new faces is definitely a masterstroke. Vyom Yadav shines as the protagonist followed by Jatin Goswami that will make your blood curl with his shrewdness. The spectrum of roles he can essay is mind-blowing. To imagine him portraying a character like this after Gulmohar is phenomenal. Anurag Thakur is another actor whose performance you should look out for. However, Mukesh Tiwari seemed heavily underutilized. Other actors like Veneet Kumar, Anushka Kaushik, Pankaj Saraswat, Disha Thakur, Puneet Singh, Ritik Raj etc have done a fabulous job by bringing in that realism with their acting.
To sum it up, Garmi has a lot of scope to improve if it makes it to the second season. The show ends on a crescendo and guarantees a more extensive canvas in the next addition. The show has several easter eggs for those familiar with the violent and cutthroat political landscape of Allahabad University and its custodians. Tigmanshu Dhulia surely delivers an engaging and riveting watch that will certainly entertain you, especially if shows like Garmi form a staple diet of content for you.
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