Review: ‘Sultan of Delhi’ is a disastrous adaptation

‘Sultan of Delhi’ is set in the aftermath of Partition and jumps to the ’60s from there

Hyderabad: ‘Sultan of Delhi’ is disappointing with a capital D. The first episode of the series is so dull that you wonder just what exactly Milan Luthria was thinking when he adapted the eponymous book written by Arnab Ray into this grand disaster.

And you feel sorry for Tahir Raj Bhasin and Vinay Pathak, who are the only saving grace of this godforsaken series. ‘Sultan of Delhi’ is set in the aftermath of Partition and jumps to the ’60s from there.

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Tahir Raj as an impressionable 17-year-old refugee displays street savviness and survival skills early on. His rise from a refugee camp when he kills a greedy shopkeeper hoarding rations to one day rule the underbelly of Delhi in the ’60s is the crux really.

His skills as a mechanic and determination to attain his goal no matter the cost attract the attention of businessman and arms smuggler Jagan Seth (Vinay Pathak) who harbours political ambitions. Aided by loyal friend Nilendu aka Bangali (Anjum Sharma), Arjun begins to work for Jagan as a hustler. In between, he meets Sanjana (Mehreen Pirzada) whose only job is to look pretty as Arjun’s girlfriend.

Arjun’s nemesis is Rajinder Pratap Singh (Nishant Dahiya), whose father benefitted from the miseries of the refugees. Among all the actors, Nishant actually suits his role as a slimy and entitled heir who thinks Arjun is the scum of the earth.

‘Sultan of Delhi’s problem lies with its scale. First of all, the series doesn’t look like a period drama at all. You don’t see any scenery of the city Delhi and there are times it feels like the background was added later. The costumes seem to have been designed in a hurry and Anupriya Goenka as Shankari Devi in ill-fitting blouses doesn’t quite look like the scheming and manipulative mistress of the Singh father-son duo. And there is no steam in those sex scenes between Anupriya and Nishant, (the intimacy coordinator didn’t understand the assignment).

Mouni Roy appears around the sixth episode in an out-of-place cabaret dance number.

Her vacant expressions can’t save the number except that it sets up her introduction later as Nilendu’s wifey. If it’s a gangster drama you are after, give a royal skip to this one.