Puli Meka Review: Lavanya Tripathi steals the show

'Puli Meka' is about a serial killer on a cop-killing spree which rattles the police department

Hyderabad: ‘Puli Meka’, Zee5’s latest Telugu thriller, is one of its better offerings among the back-to-back releases it has come out with. Actor Lavanya Tripathi, who is in a lean phase of her career, shines in this series as a tough cop. As OTT debuts go, Lavanya has made good use of the opportunity in this eight-part series.

‘Puli Meka’ is about a serial killer on a cop-killing spree which rattles the police department. Top cop Anurag Narayan (Suman) assigns the case to IPS officer Kiran Prabha, played by Lavanya, who has a proven track record of catching psychopathic killers. She is joined by forensics expert Prabhakar Sharma (Aadi Sai Kumar) and the series revolves around Kiran’s investigation and the killer’s motive in targeting the police department.

Lavanya fits the bill as a female police officer and manages the trickier action sequences smoothly. The role sees her in different looks. She actually wears her uniform in very few scenes. Aadi Sai Kumar plays his no-nonsense character with ease. His character comes across as dodgy initially since he withholds key information that could help the case. However, he redeems himself in the viewers’ eyes when his motivations are revealed.

Other supporting characters like Suman, ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’ fame Siri Hanamantu and Raja Chembolu do justice to their supporting roles. Producer Kona Venkat’s writing is just okay and the twists and turns in the later episodes salvage the otherwise boring episodes one must trudge through at the beginning. Web series gives more freedom to writers to experiment with stories, but Venkat has played it safe with a predictable storyline catering to commercial interests.

The real action and momentum build around the fifth episode. Both Kona Venkat and director Chakravarthy Reddy approached the series like they would a movie, and that’s what it feels like when you are watching the show. Although, the production sets come across as low-budget in certain scenes. ‘Puli Meka’ could have been more intriguing if the writer had done away with the romantic plot, and the editing was crisper.

Suspenseful thrillers rely heavily on the music to create an exciting vibe but the music by Praveen Lakkaraju is nothing noteworthy. However, as far as weekend watching goes, ‘Puli Meka’ is a good bet.