Yudh

Tu na thakega kabhi, Tu na thamega kabhi, Tu na mudega kabhi, Kar shapath! Kar shapath! Kar shapath! Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!

Even at 71 years Mr. Bachchan is unstoppable. He continues to lead, to inspire. Amongst many firsts we will always remember him as the Superstar who brought glam to humble television. And he continues to do it.

Coming to Yudh, I have watched two episodes and am impressed with the way Br. Bachchan has acted. There is a reason why some people transcend time and Mr. Bachchan is a living example of it. He is exceptional in his performance and connects with his audience to the T. Anand (Zakir Hussain) plays a key role in the serial and does complete justice to the importance of the character. But this is where the good part ends.

First of all Sony, a channel struggling to make an impact with the audience fails to understand that people love uninterrupted flow of story. Breaks are a necessary evil, one gets that, coz the sponsor is pumping money for this but using the break to cross promote other shows? Lot of people might do it under various pretext but answer a simple question, I am eating Chinese and if someone tries to keep serving Sambar and idli how will you feel? Irritating is an understatement!

KK looks underutilized but then it's too early to say that. Mr. Bachchan's wife looks too young for him. If I have to give a reference point then it shall be from the movie Sarkar, Mr. Bachchan's wife looked right age for the role.

Yudh is a real estate tycoon, and going by experience most real estate guys have wonderful offices. Unfortunately this fact has been ignored by the director. Yudh's office is more like a make shift office and one can make it out. It lacks the largeness which goes with real estate guys.

The series depicts the story of Delhi, Gurgaon…wonder why such an important person like Yudh will not have basic security? It appears like anyone can reach him, anywhere. Too lame, once again no thinking involved on the part of director.

Yudh seems to be caught up with nuisances like Commissioner and some other Government officers, anyone who is worth their salt in the construction business know that these guys are just pawns. All the strings are held by the ministers. And if I am sitting on the pinnacle of success then I definitely know how to move the Government machinery rather than getting bogged down by it. The script lacks planning and clearly falls short. A person like Yudh should have opponents worthy of a tussle.

Direction is bad, I would have loved to use softer words but it won't be right. My reader please allow me to share an example, in one of the scene, Yudh's daughter is hospitalized. He comes across the girls "legal" dad. But then the legal dad gets a call and imagine what he does, he says excuse me and goes inside the patient's room to take the call. How stupid is that! People are asked to limit the use of cell phones if they are visiting a hospital, not only the director ignores this, but goes on to show that the legal dad took the call by going inside the patient's room. Amazing!!!

And what is with the imaginary character of the joker? It's a borrowed concept from the West. If one had to show an imaginary character then it has to be something or someone who connects with India at an emotional level. A joker is not only frivolous but has no connect with the viewers.

People who tend to make serials with a difference should realise we are no longer isolated; people have a good experience of what is world class and Yudh falls short.

Yudh has been good, intriguing and has kept us guessing so far, it is not exceptional and it does have flaws in its narrative, but it is such a welcome break from the same old Saas Bahu fare you are offered by all the Indian channels. The casting of the actors for the show is quite spot-on and they fit their roles perfectly. It's a pity that the show is aired so late, way past prime time else it would have grabbed a lot more eyeballs from the younger Indian audience. With TV Series like Yudh, 24 and Powder there is still some hope for the Hindi TV industry. It is not easy to support and put your weight behind such projects when you don't get much support. Kudos to the makers and the studios backing these projects for daring to break the generic mould.

Hope this is a new beginning for the Hindi TV industry!!!

To start with I would say that I was not very excited about this series. I usually don't watch TV series, especially typical Indian daily soap (Saas bahu drama). I thought it was an attempt to market average content using BigB's name. But just for name sake I gave it a chance and started watching from the second episode. I continued it with watching 3-4 too and I soon realized it was not an average TV serial. It's dark for an Indian TV show. Almost every scene drives the story forward without any melodrama. Characters are very real and believable, not to mention backed by some high quality performance one does not get to see in TV series. A great psychological thriller where politics and rivalries feel real and dirty. If you are planning to follow this series my suggestion would be to give it a chance and watch the first few episodes (at-least first 4), then only real plot and depth of story is revealed. Watching just one or two episodes you might just dismiss it with nothing special. One great thing I like about the series is that almost every character gets good screen time accompanied with their own stories which blend well with the original plot. Before starting to watch the series I thought it would be all about AB in every scene and how heroically he faces every situation. Thank god the series is so different from that. Each character comes out as hero in their own right. My personal favorites are performances from Zakir Hussain (Anand) and Aahana Kurma (Taruni). Do watch this series and you would soon realize you have not made a wrong choice.

I feel the most of the critics lack the sense that it is a Drama series. First i thought "is it a copy of Beaking bad" as it seemed like with he promos. I will never watch the 24 which is being shooted with Anil Kapoor as it is an exact copy of the USA Version. But i believed in Anurag Kashyap and decided to watch the show. And he is again on the spot, impressed me. As it is not a sci-fi series i leave the thinking on the side and like to flow with the story with Acting and direction.

Some points to viewers Don't leave the show in between i watched it till 6 and expect more now.

Some point to Directors Remove the joker as many people left the show because of that.

Other than that I believe if the producers are happy more of such shows should be made.

Good storyline, exceptional acting, simple clothes, no gory makeups, superb editing, no shocking sets, fast moving after the initial episodes make this a standout Hindi mini-serial. Yes it may look a bit complicated to start with (likes most series introducing the storyline) but after a few episodes it is not an issue.

Some of the scenes are fantastic in that there is nothing said.....only expressions and the slick editing takes you to the next scene....no explanation needed like in the saas bahu trash soaps.

All the actors have performed very well and stand shoulder to shoulder with Amitabh in making this serial a triumph with Anurag Khasyap & co directing.

There are a good few social issues touched from time to time in the serial quietly in the background for the viewers to take it on. The 3 crores per episode price tag for each episode shows in every episode with everything being top class.

Hope they extend it into series 2 and 3.....