Aakhri Sach Review: Investigative thriller, inspired by real incident

Abhishek Banerjee does a fantastic job as the guilt-ridden Bhuvan while Tamannaah seems to be struggling hard to shed her glam doll image.

Hyderabad: Looks like investigative crime dramas are the season’s flavour across OTT platforms. From ‘Delhi Crime’ (Netflix) and ‘Paatal Lok’ to ‘Dahaad’ (Prime Video) to ‘Kaalkoot’ (JioCinema), and now ‘Aakhri Sach’ (Hotstar), every streaming giant is vying for space in this genre.

And heading these investigations are ‘powerful’ cops. In ‘Aakhri Sach’, it is Anya (Tamannaah Bhatia), whose entry scene in a pub, where she operates oh-so-smoothly to nab an ex-IITian involved in a financial scam, attempts to establish the character’s style and attitude.

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Post this introduction comes the main plot of this whodunit mystery. Anya and her team are tasked with investigating the shocking deaths of 11 members of the Rajawat family, spanning three generations. While 10 of them are found hanging, the matriarch of the family is found dead in another room with a head injury. Inspired by the real-life incident of the Burari deaths, the investigative thriller sets out to get to the ‘Aakhri Sach’ (ultimate truth).

Viewers are introduced to the family members in the first two episodes, via information gathered by cops from neighbours and others through flashbacks.

The Rajawat family that came to Delhi from Teetari in Rajasthan comprises Aadesh (Danish Iqbal), Bhuvan (Abhishek Banerjee), Babita, and Kavita and their respective families. Everyone, except Kavita who doesn’t live with them, is dead in a horrific mass suicide/murder. The incident happens just a week after the engagement of Babita’s daughter Anshika (Kriti Vij) to Aman (Shivin Narang).

The late patriarch Jawahar Rajawat (Sanjiv Chopra), a police officer, dies in an unfortunate incident involving Bhuvan. Now, an extremely guilt-ridden Bhuvan is haunted by the past.

At the end of the second episode, there are a few suspects – Anshika’s fiancé Aman, and members of two rival criminal gangs. Aadesh somehow seems to have gotten entangled with one of the gangs. As Aman tries to carry out his own investigation, more suspects emerge.

Going by the initial episodes, director Robbie Grewal could have handled the series with more intensity, considering the gravity of the situation surrounding 11 deaths.

Abhishek Banerjee does a fantastic job as the guilt-ridden Bhuvan while Tamannaah seems to be struggling hard to shed her glam doll image but doesn’t really succeed in pulling off a no-nonsense cop. For someone who sees 10 people hanging, she doesn’t look too shaken.

Having said that, the intricate plot, which is unfolding slowly, makes it worth watching at least once.