Bestseller review: Shruti Haasan steals the show, Mithun Chakraborty brings his comic best to the table

Released on Friday, February 18, Amazon Prime Video’s series Bestseller is a multi-starrer psychological thriller starring actors Mithun Chakraborty, Shruti Haasan, Arjan Bajwa, Gauahar Khan, Sonalee Kulkarni and Satyajeet Dubey. The eight-part series marks the OTT debut of not one but three actors – Mithun, Shruti and Sonalee.

Directed by Mukul Abhyankar, the series is about a renowned author, Tahir Wazir (Arjan Bajwa) who is on a quest to write his next novel, a sequel of his most-successful book, title of which is based on Saint Kabir’s doha – ‘Raand Saand Seedi Sanyasi’. Tahir’s debut novel was a major flop but his second book, ‘Raand Saand Seedi Sanyasi’ becomes the game changer for his career. But, till a decade after his successful novel, Tahir’s fails to create any magic. And that is when it bumps into Meetu Mathur (Shruti Haasan), an aspiring writer and Tahir’s fangirl.

Meanwhile, Tahir’s wife Mayanka Kapoor (Gauahar Khan), a successful ad-film director seems is thriving professionally, ready to bag her third consecutive award for running a successful production house. And with her, works an aspiring ad filmmaker, Sanjay Shekhawat (Viraf Patel). Together they hire an intern, Parth Acharya (Satyajeet Dubey). Parth is an intelligent, smart techie who joins Mayanka’s company after he impresses her with his smartness within a few minutes of meeting her.

Things seem fine in the beginning until a troll enters Tahir’s life. Soon the lives of Tahir, Mayanka, Parth and Meetu get inter-linked with each other. And that is when the chaos unfolds, chapter by chapter, episode by episode.

The beginning of the chaos also marks the entry of Bestseller’s most-iconic character that brings colour, humour and thrill to the series – ACP Lokesh (Mithun Chakraborty). With him comes his assistant, Ranade (Sonalee Kulkarni). The two cops, who are on a serious job role, make enough time to tickle the viewers with their humour amidst unravelling the series of mysteries.

What worked: Mithun Chakraborty’s performance in the series is mind-blogging. His entry in the series comes a little late but will surely leave you in splits. The ace with which he performs his character, maintaining the balance between a serious, just and honest cop, and a human who shields his pain with his humour. Other than Mithun, the other two actors who have impressed with their performance are Shruti Haasan and Satyajeet Dubey. While Satyajeet has shown different shades in his character, bringing freshness to the screens, Shruti has come off as a complete surprise. Shruti’s performance may not impress you at the beginning but sometimes into the show, she will impress you like none other!

What didn’t work: The series has a total of eight episodes. The first few episodes are slow and may fail to keep your interest in it. Being a psychological thriller, the show does have some twists and turns but has loose ends here and there. Some parts of the series appear highly predictable as well.

Director: Mukul Abhyankar
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Shruti Haasan, Sonalee Kulkarni, Arjan Bajwa, Gauahar Khan, Satyajeet Dubey and Viraf Patel.
Stars: 2.5 stars for the series and half a star for Mithun Chakraborty and Shruti Haasan.

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