Series: A Simple Murder
Language: Hindi
Season: 1
Episodes: 7
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Streaming Platform: Sony LIV
Cast: Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Priya Anand, Amit Sial, Sushant Singh, and others
Writer: Prateek Payodhi
Screenplay: Akhilesh Jaiswal and Prateek Payodhi
Director: Sachin Pathak
After Scam 1992 received a huge appreciation, the audience started looking out for new shows on Sony LIV. ‘A Simple Murder’ is the newly released web series on Sony LIV. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub who recently had a release in the form of Chhalaang played the lead role in the series while Priya Anand played the leading lady. Sachin Pathak directed this comedy series which is gaining attention on social media.
Plot:
Manish (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub) is on the lookout for investors for his startup. His wife Richa (Priya Anand) is not happy with him. One day, Manish lands up at the wrong place while reaching out to an investor. It leads him to another place where he kills a woman accidentally and runs away with 50 million. Manish meets Richa and explains to her about the series of events that took place. Richa cleverly escapes from Manish with the money. The rest of the series is all about how greed becomes the factor that entangles the characters in an uncontrollable chain of events.
Actors & Performances:
A Simple Murder has a long list of talented actors. Starting from Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub to Hyderabad based actor Vinay Varma, everyone did their part well. Ayyub has played a wide range of roles in his career so far but this series is completely different for him. Even in Chhalang, we saw him playing a strong PT teacher who challenges Raj Kumar Rao. In ‘A Simple Murder’, he plays a loser who goes to the extent to even kill his wife after she slips from his control. He is vulnerable and relatable. Priya Anand is back in the Hindi entertainment space after a long time. She plays a greedy woman who cheats on her husband. She puts an amazing performance and stands out in the climax sequence. Sial has got a key role in the series. Sharma, Vikram Kochhar, Gopal Datt, Vinay Varma, and Ayaz Khan made their presence felt.
Analysis:
‘A simple murder’ is a 7 episode comedy series on Sony LIV, directed by Sachin Pathak. Although the series’ title suggests a single murder, the story runs through multiple murders. The best part of the series is that the story keeps progressing in each episode. The writing is so clever that we get easily hooked to the happenings in the series. The story is multi-layered with many characters. But, the director made sure to give enough screen space to all the characters and make us feel their emotion.
The series appears to be a comedy of errors but deep down, the show creators touched on some serious elements in the right proportions. Apart from discussing the greed in everyone, the series also deals with the issues of ‘honor-killings’ and ‘love jihad.’ The humor in the series is subtle and never went overboard. Every character in the series has an imperfection but still, we root for them in some situations.
The first half of the series focuses on creating confusion, introducing the characters, and driving them towards a goal. The second half of the series loosens the tight ends in the game of greed. The second half is a little clumsy and occupied with too much of the story. Yet, the writers made sure to run the screenplay smoothly. The entertainment quotient is very high in every episode. The major plus points of the series are the performances, humor, and technicalities. The camera work and background score are excellent.
‘A Simple Murder’ is highly entertaining and worth a watch!
