Indian Police Force Review: Sidharth Malhotra, Rohit Shetty's Show Fails To Live Up To Expectations

Rohit Shetty's cop universe comprising Singham, Sooryavanshi and Simmba delivered a good blend of action and entertainment. While the stories saw police officers as almost invincible entities, operating largely out of the system, the fact they were good masala films was enough for the viewers to suspend their disbelief and immerse in the heroism and machismo of the titular characters. However, all of that has been undone in Indian Police Force, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi. Rohit's maiden web series is not only underwhelming in its storyline but also lacks the technical finesse the director is associated with, especially VFX.

Hot Take

The story of Indian Police Force unravels in the aftermath of a series of bomb blasts in New Delhi, carried out by the Indian Mujahideen (IM). The local police, led by Vikram Bakshi (Vivek Oberoi) and Kabir Malik (Sidharth Malhotra), takes over the case, kicking in motion a cat-and-mouse chase. Where the story goes from here is anyone's guess. The show neither works on the script level nor are the performances up to the mark. It almost feels like "risk-taker" Rohit played safe with his digital debut and failed to deliver.

Is Indian Police Force worth the hype?

Given Indian Police Force was an extension of Rohit Shetty's Cop Universe, there was palpable hype surrounding the show. It is was amplified with the casting of Sidharth Malhotra in the leading role. However, neither is show matches Rohit's standards nor does the actor bring any novelty in his portrayal of the role.

The tone of Indian Police Force is set in the first half hour itself. There are extended shots of the hero walking in slo-mo with elevated background score. Such flimsy treatment takes away from the seriousness of multiple bomb blasts and the threat of a terrorist module operating in city. It seems like Rohit and co-director Sushwanth Prakash sacrificed realism over heroism of the cops.

While Indian Police Force has a template storyline, very typical of Rohit's filmography, it never really take off. The performances of the lead stars are animated and the visual treatment is off. A yellow tint dominates the colour palette and is very distracting. The dialogues are bland and dilute the gravity of the situation at hand.

Stream it or skip it?

Indian Police Force came with a lot of promise but fails to deliver on all counts. Rohit was expected to take his storytelling to the next level with long form but the show is a level down in his filmography. It seems like the director could not rid himself of the commercial star tropes and chose to overlook practically entirely. Despite being in his comfort zone, Rohit is way off the mark with this one.

Bottomline

Indian Police Force lacks detailing and world building. A filmmaker of Rohit Shetty's calibre should have known better than to bring this outdated concept and treatment to OTT.

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars