'Garmi' Review: Tigmanshu Dhulia's Political Crime-Drama Brings the Heat

Director Tigmanshu Dhulia has a reputation when it comes to telling stories conceived out of the Indian hinterland.

image credit: Sony LIV

Director and writer Tigmanshu Dhulia has somewhat of a reputation when it comes to telling stories conceived out of the Indian hinterland. There aren’t many filmmakers who can place a camera in the vast outback of Uttar Pradesh and tell a rich story that’s soaked in both blood and love.

‘Garmi’ may share a similar backdrop of student politics with other shows but with its world-building and the intersection of morality vs power, the show manages to say something unique.

Image credit: Sony LIV

‘Garmi’, a youth-centric political crime-drama about a hot-headed IAS aspirant who moves to another city to train for civil services examination but ends up bumping into the world of college politics and organized crime, is like a vegan meal served on a cheat day. With its plethora of characters and an interesting central conflict, the show makes for an entertaining watch. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia knows the narrative yard of his story and as a result, viewers are treated to some fine drama that catches their attention by the collar. With an intentionally swift pace and frequent thrilling elements, episodic transitions seem smooth and organic.

Shot in director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s cinematic haven Allahabad (now Prayagraj), the show introduces us to an assortment of angry, twisted characters, each oscillating in and out of their own versions of the oppressor and the oppressed. In a world of testosterone fueled lawless characters, vulnerability is a crutch. This is where Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Garmi’ shines the most. The crossroad of noble familial values and the fight for power comes at a moral cost which the central protagonist Arvind Shukla often finds himself at.

Image credit: Sony LIV

Actor Vyom Yadav, who plays the central protagonist of Arvind Shukla, brings a certain third-world innocence and permanence to the Angry Young Man trope. The character has all the traits of being remembered as an overarching ‘hero’ in a show full of grey characters. It’s almost like writer-director Tigmanshu Dhulia is asking “what would happen if the Angry Young Man of the 70s was part of student politics today?”

Despite that, Tigmanshu Dhulia has scored a certain victory in getting his new cast of actors to deliver complicated emotions with ease. With his assured and sometimes vulnerable demeanor, actor Vyom Yadav is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the future.

image credit: Sony LIV

Anurag Thakur as Govind, veteran theater and TV actor Vineet Kumar as Bairagi Baba and Jatin Goswami as Mrityunjay are all convincing in their respective parts. However, it’s Mukesh Tiwari’s performance as Dilbagh Singh that leaves you yearning for more. Playing an oddly vulnerable character who turns dangerous at the drop of a hat, the show benefits massively from Mukesh Tiwari’s screen presence.

Shailesh Awasthhi’s camerawork does well to capture the grandeur of the Indian hinterland even when evil lurks around at every corner. It adds the necessary gravitas to an otherwise young cast of actors.

image credit: Sony LIV

To sum it up, if you’re craving some fine drama with high ambition this summer, ‘Garmi’ is just the show for you.