Created by Hansal Mehta and Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul, Scoop displays the same acumen for detailing as Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020). The show’s USP is both the story and its narration.
The six-episode series tries its best to not give in to the dramatic, even as it pursues all the ingredients of a hit – Bombay mafia, journalists, and a story ‘based on true events’. It escapes the trap of sensationalisation for the most part to deliver a gripping slow burn.
Based on a book by former crime reporter Jigna Vora, Behind the Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison, the story focuses on the life of deputy news bureau chief and crime reporter Jagruti Pathak (Karishma Tanna) at The Eastern Age newspaper, headed by Imran (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub). Jagruti faces stiff competition from veteran investigative journalist Jaideb Sen (Prosenjit Chatterjee), who manages to get the exclusives related to Dawood and Chhota Rajan. A journalist’s death and another’s arrest then form the plot of the show.
Impactful cast
The best performance of the series comes not from Tanna but Harman Baweja in the role of a police officer. Baweja is Mehta’s joker card. He has made a major leap from Love Story 2050 (2008) or What’s Your Rashee (2009) act. As a government lackey tasked with investigating the woman he is deeply attracted to, Baweja is impactful. From handling the press, to doing his duty, and also buying perfumes to Pathak, he negotiates easily between the professional exerior to his personal dilemma.
Tanna makes the best out of her character but that doesn’t seem enough. It could easily be so because of the way her character is written. She displays almost no emotions unless the scene demands hyper reactions. Tanna has got the body language, the apt accent and tense moments working for her. But even after three episodes spent establishing her role, she hardly shows any depth.
And that makes it difficult for the audience to empathise with her.
Prosenjit Chatterjee only has a short cameo in the show but the actor aces his role as a veteran reporter, through his silences and body language.
Zeeshan Ayyub as the supportive boss reminds you of Gulshan Devaiah’s recent stint as SHO Devi Singh in Amazon Prime’s Dahaad. He also puts his reputation at stake to support his female subordinate and doesn’t ask for brownie points.
The show only gets better because of its ensemble cast with Ira Dubey, Tamay Dhanania, Deven Bhojani, Ravi Mahashabde and Inayat Sood.
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A nod to journalists
Scoop takes a look at the challenges of a female crime reporter in the Mafia era of Mumbai. Tanna’s Pathak is stretched thin between dodging indecent proposals, making her mark as a journalist and being a single mother.
Through Pathak, Mehta draws you in to look at the role played by the public in shaping journalism—what sells is what the audience wants. It’s also almost a voyeur-like look into the protagonist’s life. He also shows you how a headline can cost a reporter’s life. The show gives a nod to the industry hunting for the truth.
Mehta shows you the cut throat world we live in, where loyalty isn’t the most important thing. It attempts to rectify how we perceive the world of journalism itself. And the misogynistic men blocking women’s way to professional success is a sub plot of the show.
Scoop is in a way a course correction of Broken News (2022), which was shriller without a beating heart.
That said, the show does falter as it slips into the melodrama of the genre. Scenes from a prison don’t offer anything new other than hostile guards, a protector figure and a humiliating strip search.
Scoop falls short of being excellent, but the good is pretty good when it comes to the fictional depiction of the fourth pillar of democracy.