Tabbar (meaning family in Punjabi) is an eight-part crime thriller series that is dark and gritty with an unusual narrative, quite opposite of its title focusing on a middle-class family. Its tagline ‘Only family matters’ indicatively points towards the basic plot revolving around an ex-policeman, who decides to go to any extent to safeguard the life and interests of the members of his small Tabbar.
Featuring three renowned actors of the Hindi film industry, the series brings in good news as well as a disappointment for the viewers, particularly for those who are well familiar with the Indian regional language movies and World Cinema.
Stating the positives, it makes a shocking impact in the opening episode itself and largely remains an engrossing crime-thriller with new twists and turns thrown in every next episode. The director, Ajitpal Singh, neatly executes the sequences, maintaining the fear of uncertainty, and the cast ensemble enacts the assigned roles giving their best. Post the recent Grahan, it’s a Pavan Malhotra show yet again from the first scene to the last, accompanied by seasoned actors like Supriya Pathak and Ranvir Shorey. The three commendably convey it through their body language, mannerisms, and eyes instead of the dialogues.
That’s what truly works in Tabbar, superbly supported by the young and talented Paramveer Singh Cheema, Gagan Arora, Sahil Mehta, Nupur Nagpal, and more. Plus, the mix of local Hindi-Punjabi language, the authentic locations, the cinematography, and an intelligent background score by Sneha Khanwalkar enhances the overall impact like a perfect match.
Coming to the downers, Tabbar can also be called a taut thriller in which the writers arrange too many convenient escape routes for the protagonist. Forgetting the logic, it often becomes unconvincing taking absurd creative liberties like in the sequence related to the editing of the crucial forensic report. The murders keep happening, without any major obstacles or investigations, and the writers keep moving on to the next, forgetting all about the earlier ones. Besides, the culmination puts a big question mark on the basic thought of its theme, when the family itself gets affected in an unexpectedly devastating manner in the end, for which everything was being done by the ex-policeman.
Moving over to the biggest disappointment, it’s about how the entire series takes inspiration from various other sources and isn’t anything original or novel. By the time the first episode gets over, you know that this is a Hindi-Punjabi version of Malayalam Hit Drishyam, set in Punjab. The next reference of selling the drugs by the youngsters makes you recall the hugely famous American series Breaking Bad. And then as it gets into the darker zone, it follows the format of Breathe Season One, featuring Madhavan and Amit Saadh.
However, despite the avoidable flaws, borrowed plots, and convenient placing of the decisive events, it’s the consistent performances of the entire cast and execution that keep you glued to the screen. Hence, this deserves to be seen even when you know that it’s not any perfect thriller headed by the terrific and ever-dependable Pavan Malhotra.
Rating : 3.5 / 5
Streaming on SonyLiv
Bobby Sing
(bobbytalkscinema.com)
NOTE : The article was first published in THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Newspaper (Mumbai Edition) on 18th October 2021
