Khoj:
Parchaiyon
Ke
Uss
Paar
is
too
pretentious
a
title
for
the
far-fetched,
lightweight
thriller
that
follows,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
A
small
police
station
in
serene
Panchgani.
Not
much
crime
except
maybe
theft.
Then
a
man
walks
in,
claiming
his
wife
is
missing.
It
does
not
seem
possible,
muses
the
cop
on
duty,
in
a
town
where
nothing
much
happens.
So
idle
is
the
inspector
that
he
has
a
side
hustle
as
a
crime
novelist.
Khoj:
Parchaiyon
Ke
Uss
Paar
is
too
pretentious
a
title
for
the
far-fetched,
lightweight
thriller
that
follows.
Ved
Khanna
(Sharib
Hashmi),
a
lawyer,
files
a
complaint
about
his
missing
wife,
Meera.
A
laidback
Inspector
Amol
Sathe
(Aamir
Dalvi)
believes
she
will
turn
up,
it’s
hardly
a
crime
worth
investigating.
A
few
days
later,
Meera
(Anupriya
Goenka)
has
returned
but
Ved
claims
she
is
not
his
wife.
All
the
photographs
in
the
house
are
of
this
woman.
Her
sister
(Kriti
Garg)
and
even
her
dog
recognise
her
as
Meera,
her
social
media
posts
have
her
picture
but
Ved
insists
she
is
an
imposter.
Written
by
Ajay
Deep
Singh
and
directed
by
Prabal
Baruah,
this
is
the
kind
of
old-style
plot
that
would
perhaps
be
okay
for
a
film.
Stretched
over
seven
episodes,
even
short
24-minute
ones,
it
snaps
rather
fast.
There
are
scenes
that
look
like
padding
—
like
Ved
sneaking
his
daughter
(Ebadat
Hussain)
out
of
boarding
school
so
that
she
can
prove
that
the
woman
is
not
her
mother,
when
a
video
call
would
suffice!
In
today’s
connected
age,
it
is
practically
impossible
to
replace
someone,
unless
it
is
by
a
lookalike.
Even
then,
there
are
biometrics
stored
in
so
many
places.
A
photograph
album
can
be
fudged
but
there
are,
say,
college
friends
and
relatives,
all
of
whom
cannot
be
coached
to
go
along
with
a
fictional
scenario.
Meera,
who
supposedly
works
for
a
local
NGO,
is
suddenly
at
home,
all
made-up
and
dressed-up,
cooking
meals
for
him.
The
more
desperate
Ved
gets
to
find
out
what
happened
to
his
wife,
the
more
he
slips,
because
all
his
proofs
prove
ineffectual.
The
inspector,
with
a
sceptical
look
on
his
face,
goes
along
with
whatever
Ved
requests,
to
the
extent
that
he
opens
the
door
of
his
home
for
the
man.
Only
in
a
small
town
could
an
inspector
be
so
accommodating.
Is
it
possible
that
Ved
is
mentally
ill
and
playing
out
a
strange
kind
of
paranoia?
The
narrative
and
the
look
of
the
show
is
too
flat
for
such
an
eventuality.
It
concentrates
mainly
on
Ved
trying
to
unmask
the
imposter,
and
leads
to
a
rather
predictable
climax.
Sharib
Hashmi
looks
suitably
harried.
Anupriya
Goenka
looks
too
nonchalant
for
a
woman
whose
husband
could
be
losing
his
mind.
It
is
left
to
Aamir
Dalvi
to
lend
the
bland
show
some
spice,
in
the
role
of
a
cop
who’d
rather
be
a
writer.
Everything
that
happens
is
a
new
plot
for
him,
and
is
pulpy
enough
for
a
railway
station
bookstall
bestseller.
Khoj:
Parchaiyon
Ke
Uss
Paar
streams
on
ZEE5.
Khoj:
Parchaiyon
Ke
Uss
Paar Review
Rediff
Rating:
