CAST Vivek Oberoi, Richa Chadha ,Tanuj Virwani , Siddhant Chaturvedi , Angad Bedi , Aamir Bashir ,Sapna Pabbi
DIRECTED BY Karan Anshuman, Aakash Bhatia, Gurmmeet Singh, Kanishk Varma
BLUF
The defiantly extreme, delightfully compelling, and just delectable effervescent fun of the back story of Indian cricket. Inside Edge Season 3 is a very cognizant show that knows exactly what it’s going for and does it well.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Set in the murky world of Indian cricket, it elucidates the behind-the-scenes of a fictional T 20 league called the PPL.
Inside Edge was India’s first big original series from a major streamer way back in 2017. The first two seasons explored everything from match-fixing to corruption to doping and beyond. The action in Season 3 action shifts away from the exhilarating conspiracies to the international stage and follows an India Pakistan test series with the backdrop of activism to legalize sports betting in India.
Season three picks up immediately after the events of season two and the fallout of the ongoing war between the intimidating Bhaisahab played by Aamir Bashir and Vivek Oberoi, charmingly sinister Vikrant Dhawan with characters like Richa Chadha’s Zarina Malik getting caught in the crossfire.
Season 3 deals with the consequences and origins of extreme match-fixing starting with a judicial investigation into the PPL in the earlier episodes allowing the story to explore the backstories of its characters significantly effectively.
IN THE KNOW
Most of the characters return, including the hot-headed by Vayu Raghavan played by Tanuj Virwani Sayoni Gupta’s cricket analysts’ avatar Rohini and the brilliant Amit Syal who immediately makes all the viewing worthwhile as Devendra Mishra and a meatier Mantra Patil played by Sapna Pabbi.
New additions Akshay Oberoi as the Indian cricket captain, Siddhant Gupta as the Kashmiri spinner Emaad and Sunny Hinduja as captain of the Pakistani cricket team are brilliant. Collectively they offer up another smashing season. The series is a big win because not once does it falter on the hooks served by the story, the actors, or the execution. The delectable twists turns and treachery boardroom bribing backstabbing, power-grabbing double-crossing politicking, and beyond.
The writing is pheno. Anshuman, Sailesh Ramaswamy, and Ananya Mody know how to construct a bloody solid season with a stranglehold over the material, ensuring that we’re always engaged
Season 3 of Inside Edge does an impressive job at mining different aspects of the great Indian cricket extravaganza for drama, with the focus of this season being more match-fixing but also making a case to legalize sports betting to help regulate black money in sports. It’s also such a respite to see Pakistani players projected as just that human beings here to represent their country at a cricket match rather than f demonized opponents as has become the Hindi cinema staple. Sunny Hinduja pulls off an impeccable accent and body language performance. What a brilliant depiction.
Vivek Oberoi has really found his footing traversing the extravagance of this fictional character. Himanshi Chaudry as Vivek Oberoi’s co-conspirator wife, pulling the strings from the sidelines fits in very well. Aamir Bashir is restrained and very impactful.
Created by Karan Anshuman, the series is directed by Karan Anshuman, Aakash Bhatia, Gurmmeet Singh, Kanishk Varma, the series appropriately tells the story of the corruption of the game that is a religion to half the world.
WHAT WE LOVED
Every frame
WHAT WE MISSED
Nada.
