The key ingredient of an effective murder mystery is its ability to keep the viewers hooked to the whodunnit plot and surprised at every reveal. The best ones keep you invested with a healthy dose of adrenaline and a steady drip of anticipation for what's going to happen next. Sadly, 36 Days, SonyLiv's latest crime series, doesn't score exceptionally on these parameters.
In theory, it has all the raw materials needed for a good crime thriller: an abundance of possibilities, eerie music, and cinematography that complements its themes. But somehow, they all add up to a jumbled mess, lacking the finesse and subtility needed for the perfect thriller.
The show begins with the dead body of an air hostess named Farah lying in the pool of her own blood, and then takes us back 36 days before the incident, drawing a picture of what led to this moment of violence, one episode at a time – a concept the show borrows from Welsh miniseries 35 Diwrnod, that it is based on.
We are taken to the luxurious suburban housing complex in Goa where Farah has just moved in, and are greeted by residents, all of whom have twisted stories of their own. You'll meet a chauvinistic womanizer, a drug lord, an overbearing baker, a trans artist, a successful businesswoman, and a celebrated microbiologist, among others. Each character is painted in shades of grey and will make you raise a brow, leaving room for the faint possibility of them being the culprit.
Purab Kohli and Shruti Seth play a seemingly perfect power couple with marital discord in the series
However, the show falls prey to the classic mistake of stuffing unnecessary tropes in thrillers, just to add more faces to point the misdirected finger at. A lot happens — police chases, raids, lavish parties, therapy sessions, marital discord — but nothing feels essential to the central storyline and fails to elicit the kind of emotional response that such thrillers thrive on. It seems like the makers were so keen on adding distracting sub-plots, that they forgot to check for relevance and depth.
For instance, a teenage couple is running away from the beach, evading security officials. Why, you ask? No one knows. There is a rat that a character who suffers from mental illness keeps hallucinating about. What does it symbolise? We don't know.
The show tries to use sex as a crutch, too. Everyone seems to be lusting over someone. Within the first ten minutes of the series, you'll see an old man engaged in an erotic video call with a camgirl. There are unnecessary sexual dream sequences, suggestive eye contacts, and more.
Although the show tries hard to justify and connect all these sub-plots, it always feels forced. Farhana is supposed to be a mysterious new tenant, but the show fails to establish her as a mysterious character. With the core plot losing its way, one might lose interest and quit watching in the middle. The latter episodes are slightly better, but it won't matter if viewers have tuned out by then. What could have been a gripping series gets lost in a poor screenplay, uneven pacing and clunky editing that fails to keep viewers on their toes. The unsettling camera angles and overused background score don't help either.
Chandan Roy Sanyal's character in the series is chauvinistic, patriarchal, unreliable, and transphobic
Several talented actors are criminally underused, as well, including Sharib Hashmi [Family Man] and Neha Sharma. For the better half of the series, she is used more as a sexualised prop than as an actual character. When she is finally given a few dialogues, the script doesn't give her a chance to shine much. There are, however, some highlights. While Purab Kohli does a decent job, Shernaz Patel and Faisal Rashid's [Monica, O My Darling] compelling portrayal of the psychologically distressed mother-son duo stood out for me. Despite their limited screen time, the two deliver standout performances, bringing depth to their roles and leaving you disturbed every time they are on screen.
The show also features Sushant Divgikar, the popular model and drag queen, who goes by the name Rani Ko-HE-Nur. While their singing performances in the series are good, the acting doesn't quite hit the mark.
Neha Sharma was last seen in JioCinema's legal thriller, Illegal - Justice, Out of Order
The script doesn't make much use of the opportunity to explore the dark reality of transphobia and its haunting effect on the victims, either. The series depicts transphobic abuses being hurled and judgmental hushes being passed, but the portrayal only skims the surface of the issue.
On a different note, Divgikar's costumes are a delight for sore eyes. Whether it is cute dresses or fancy gowns, they have carried the outfits with impressive grace and confidence. Sadly, they aren't enough to carry the weight of the flaky series and save it from its overall mediocrity.
36 Days is a classic example of how murder mysteries fail to engage the audience. If you are a fan of the genre, I would suggest skipping this one, as you're not likely to find the elements that make for a tense thriller. However, if you're just looking for a casual weekend watch, or just plan on playing something forgettable in the background and focusing on other priorities, it makes for a bearable one-time-watch.
All eight episodes of 36 Days are now streaming on SonyLiv
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