Suniel Shetty deserves a better OTT debut than Amazon Mini TV’s Hunter: Tootega Nahi, Todega. The makers waste no opportunity in using Shetty as a thirst trap — from an extended shower scene to a sex scene. No complaints there. But the aesthetic is woefully incapable of covering up the carnage that the eight-episode show is.
Based on The Invisible Woman by Saurabh Katyal, Hunter has all the meat, but directors Prince Dhiman and Alok Batra make a mess of the recipe and turn it into something indigestible. Shetty plays ACP Vikram, who makes money on the side by taking contracts to find missing people. Matter goes awry when he becomes the prime suspect — or hunted — in one. With the help of a teen hacker Vikram (Mihir Ahuja) and an investigative journalist Divya (Esha Deol), he must unravel the mystery and go back to being the ‘hunter’ he is.
Tropes hold it together
Vikram is also the narrator of the show that is peppered with the remixed versions of iconic Bollywood numbers like Rang Barse, Mere Sapno Ki Rani, Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli, Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai and Awara Hoon at odd moments. Whatever the intended effect, it does not work.
The dialogues by Gaurav Sharma have the Bollywood masala movie appeal that occasionally makes you laugh. But the comic relief is short-lived.
People are killed at the drop of a hat, and the series looks like it was set during the peak of the Mumbai underworld that we have seen countless times in terrible Bollywood movies. The sets are ludicrous and look like a cross between Pulp Fiction and Kaminey. It recreates commercial ’90s movies tropes from women being used as mere tools for violence, misunderstood cops, bar dances and mafia/trafficking, but without any self-awareness.
The absolute lack of detailing coupled with an array of character tropes means there is hardly anything to praise in the plot or narration. After a point, you seriously start questioning the choice of clicking on the ‘next’ episode.
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Investigation for namesake
The trope of an honest cop gone vigilante after the loss of a child has been milked beyond rhyme and reason by now. Amit Sadh’s Kabir Sawant act in Amazon Prime’s Breathe (2018-22) is one of the finer ones. Shetty does not really bring anything new to it, except his signature dialogue delivery. But even that nostalgia withers away soon as the show becomes irritating.
Esha Deol as an investigative journalist reminds us of her glamorous makeover for Dhoom (2004). But there is little depiction of how journalists’ conduct investigations in real life.
Barkha Sengupta is wasted as ACP Vikram’s wife. The only actor that stands out is Rahul Dev as Hooda. From his body language to diction, Dev adds some semblance of believability as a corrupt cop. The scenes between him and Shetty bring some fireworks to the screen, but they too fizzle out after the third episode.
One could argue if Hunter should have been made at all. Perhaps a movie adaptation would have done the job, or a five-part mini series.