Performances
by
Nimrat
Kaur
and
Amol
Parashar
make
the
rather
unimaginative
show
watchable,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
From
the
era
of
Dynasty
down
to
the
recent
Succession,
it
is,
kind
of,
inevitable
that
a
wealthy
family
will
be
greedy,
ruthless
and
degenerate.
It
is
not
surprising
that
the
creators
of
Kull:
The
Legacy
Of
The
Raisingghs
are
Ekta
and
Shobha
Kapoor,
of
the
once
all-dominating
Balaji
telefilms
(the
‘K’
is
a
giveaway).
Their
expertise
lies
in
family
dramas,
and
since
OTT
does
not
necessarily
demand
Indian
family
values,
setting
the
eight-part
series
in
a
Rajasthani
royal
clan
means
evil
can
permeate
the
walls
of
the
Palace
of
Bilkaner
without
hindrance.
The
fortunes
of
the
erstwhile
royal
Chandra
Pratap
Raisinggh
(Rahul
Vohra)
have
depleted
alarmingly.
His
middle
daughter,
Kavya
(Ridhi
Dogra)
is
in
the
process
of
setting
up
a
deal
with
a
foreign
hotel
chain,
the
son,
Abhimanyu
(Amol
Parashar)
is
a
cokehead
and
gambler
(like
the
Kieran
Culkin
character
in
Succession)
and
the
oldest
daughter
Indrani
(Nimrat
Kaur)
is
married
to
Vikram
(Suhaas
Ahuja),
Chief
Minister
Jograj
Chapawat
(Rohhit
Tiwari)’s
son.
From
all
indications,
she’s
the
dutiful
one,
enduring
taunts
about
being
childless.
She
treats
the
grown
Abhimanyu
like
a
child
—
he
calls
her
Ma
—
and
has
unofficially
adopted
a
palace
employee’s
son.
With
the
knowledge
of
her
husband,
she
carries
on
an
affair
with
a
former
lover,
but
in
keeping
with
family
tradition,
will
not
consider
walking
out
of
the
unhappy
marriage.
Then
there’s
the
firstborn
but
illegitimate
Brij
(Gaurav
Arora),
who
is
devoted
to
his
father,
but
is
not
considered
a
part
of
the
family
by
the
others.
A
television
crew
led
by
Kavya’s
boyfriend
Kabir
(Arsalan
Goni)
is
around
the
palace
filming,
and
waiting
for
Chandra
Pratap’s
60th
birthday
celebrations.
He
is
suffering
from
dementia,
believes
his
children
are
trying
to
kill
him,
and
threatening
to
reveal
a
secret
from
his
own
past,
as
atonement
for
a
crime
only
his
friend
Jograj
is
aware
of.
The
characters
and
their
conflicts
are
quickly
established,
and
it
is
time
for
the
Agatha
Christie-ish
murder,
with
all
the
suspects
around
the
palace
and
a
few
with
obvious
reasons
for
killing
Chandra
Pratap,
whose
body
is
found
floating
in
the
pool.
The
obnoxious
Abhimanyu
names
himself
‘Rajaji’
and
tries
to
block
the
investigation.
Local
cops
are
still
subservient
to
the
royal
family,
as
are
other
residents
of
the
city
and
susceptible
to
influence.
CBI
officer
Bhagwan
Ramteke
(Ankit
Siwach)
arrives,
and
not
so
politely
reminds
the
so-called
royals
that
India
is
a
democracy
now
and
is
not
run
by
royal
diktat
but
by
the
Constitution.
He
interrogates
all
of
them,
and
is
not
in
the
least
deferential
towards
their
status.
The
murderer
is
revealed,
not
by
any
great
skill
of
deduction
by
Ramteke,
but
by
recording
of
the
killing
caught
on
camera.
And
the
series,
directed
by
Sahir
Raza
(written
by
Althea
Kaushal
and
Tarana
Raja)
that
was
chugging
along
nicely,
derails
and
goes
into
full
melodrama
mode.
Indrani,
who
had
till
then
been
a
wallflower,
turns
into
a
scheming
politician.
The
always
angry
Kavya
has
more
reason
to
be
disgruntled
and
the
even
more
depraved
Abhimanyu
brings
the
family
to
the
brink
of
ruin.
Their
antics
are
not
interesting,
and
the
plot
makes
sure
that
none
of
them
are
likeable
or
sympathetic.
Still,
Indrani
and
Abhimanyu,
despicable
in
their
own
way,
are
properly
developed
characters.
Their
behaviour
and
motivation
are
at
least
given
a
background.
Kavya
remains
one
note.
Brij
is
shadowy
and
sacrificing,
then
does
a
volte
face,
possibly
with
an
eye
on
a
new
season.
In
spite
of
the
Rajasthan
setting,
Kull
does
not
even
have
visual
sparkle.
Performances
by
Nimrat
Kaur
and
Amol
Parashar
make
the
rather
unimaginative
show
watchable.
There
are
enough
real-like
palace
intrigues
and
sibling
rivalries
around
India
to
pick
from
and
turn
into
an
entertaining
and
classy
show.
Kull
missed
the
mark.
Kull:
The
Legacy
Of
The
Raisingghs
streams
on
JioHostar.
Kull:
The
Legacy
Of
The
Raisingghs
Review
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