Review – Shootout at Alair- Watchable only for performances

Plot

The series is based on Mecca Masjid blasts and one Muslim youth named Akhtar develops hatred towards Hindus and decides to kill many on each anniversary of the blast. To crack this case, a top-level cop played by Srikanth is deployed by the top officials like Prakash Raj and others. How do they stop Akhtar from going wild forms the rest of the story.

 Performances

Srikanth is the major highlight of the series as he does a wonderful job as the honest cop. Srikanth tends to go a bit overboard in his aggressive roles but he is perfect in this series. He is mature, suave, and the dialogue delivery of his is perfect. Nandini Rai gets a good role and she has done justice to it. Gayatri Gupta as the cop is also amazing in the series and showcases her talent. Prakash Raj is perfect in his cop’s role and brings a lot of depth to the series. The guy who played Akhtar could have been a noted actor as the actor chosen does not impress much as his role had a lot to portray.

 Analysis

The series does not have great action and has been made to look realistic. So, it is more of investigation, conversations, and how the cops operate on a detailed note to catch such culprits. The director Anand Ranga takes forever to set up the plot in the first place. Three episodes are gone just to establish the whole set up. Once that is done, things look good.

But the biggest issue is the direction. The way a scene is set, and what happens within the scene is utterly mundane and boring. The actors which are chosen in supporting roles are not that good and this creates a bad effect on the show. Things only click in the last few episodes as the pace develops and real drama is showcased.

The makers tried hard to showcase the series with more drama but that aspect is missing with the direction of Anand Ranga. Too many predictable scenes and repeated episodes of cops investigation bore the audienc. Noted actors like Prakash Raj and Srikanth do their best to hold the screen and in a nutshell, this series becomes fairly watchable and that too in the final episodes is because of these two professional actors.