'Bambai Meri Jaan' tells a gripping tale of family, money, and morality

2023-09-14 19:29

In recent years, India has had a string of commercially and critically acclaimed dark crime

In recent years, India has had a string of commercially and critically acclaimed dark crime thrillers: Netflix’s Sacred Games and Kohrra, Prime Video’s Mirzapur and Farzi, to name a few. Each is sprawling, crafted not only to tell stories of communities and families but of India itself. Power, money, and morality are often embedded at the heart of these tales.

Produced by India's Excel Entertainment, Bambai Meri Jaan holds similar promises, and delivers. Premiering today on Prime Video India and rolling out globally, the 10-episode series untangles the far-reaching web of the Mumbai mafia, examining the city's crime ring through the vessel of a family pulled into its grasp.

What is Bambai Meri Jaan about?

Adding to the repertoire of India-based crime dramas, the series begins with a chillingly tense interaction between a family obviously fractured. The foundation for this tension is the dichotomy between a father and son. The former is Ismail (Kay Kay Menon), a law-abiding former cop who proclaims that he would rather see his children starve than to obtain a dishonest living for his family. The latter is his son, Dara (Avinash Tiwary), who discovers theft at a young age, stealing money and desserts as a kid and ditching class at an English-language school that his father can hardly afford. Dara hopes of one day driving a Mercedes like the fearful gangster Haji Maqbool (Saurabh Sachdeva), whose criminal network Ismail spends his career trying to dismantle.

Bambai Meri Jaan traces Dara and his siblings, including his older brother Saadiq (Jitin Gulati) and sister Habiba (Kritika Kamra), as they increasingly shun their father’s insistence on justice and honesty for the allure of prestige and cash.

Kritika Kamra portrays Habiba Kadri in the show. Credit: Prime India.

The series examines organised crime in post-independence Mumbai

Helmed by producers Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, and Kassim Jagmagia, Bambai Meri Jaan scrutinizes integrity, desire, evil, and the vulnerabilities existing in post-independence Mumbai (colloquially deemed "Bambai"), when organised crime was on the rise in the '60s and '70s. Against a backdrop of political corruption and fragility, people strive and struggle to secure a good life, with a host of characters living in poverty but seeing greater dreams for their future.

The narrative is based on the writing of Hussain Zaidi, a renowned crime journalist and author who chronicled the stories of the notorious underworld of Mumbai. Creators Rensil D’Silva and Shujaat Saudagar adapted a story based on these writings, which draw inspiration from real-life fixtures of the mafia, like Dawood Ibrahim. In fact, the story mirrors the ascendance of Ibrahim in the Mumbai underworld, which doesn't culminate in the element of surprise, but will instead feel familiar. The series shares qualities with Netflix’s Narcos, in both its historical foundation and deft execution. D’Silva tells Mashable that the show is "a collection of [Zaidi’s] observations over the years."

Kay Kay Menon and Saurabh Sachdeva play Ismail Kadri and Haji Maqbool, respectively. Credit: Prime India.

Bambai Meri Jaan leaves "judgement to the viewer"

The 10-episode series portrays all facets of crime, but this also results in a significant amount of on-screen violence, some of which can feel gratuitous and is at times draining in its frequency. D'Silva says that the creators were careful to weave in the significance of consequences and karma into the storyline: "We've taken every precaution to see that none of [the characters] are glamorized. They're given their comeuppance." Akhtar adds that they've left "judgement to the viewer", representing characters as truthfully as they can.

"It's important to understand is that every single person is a hero in their own story. Nobody thinks 'I'm doing something bad'. They may may blame it on circumstance, they may blame it on different things. But everybody has a reason to do what they're doing. So as a writer, I don't think you can judge them," Akhtar says.

The producer believes that the underlying good-versus-evil motif (a fixture of most crime shows) lends the show its emotional charge. "It's fascinating to see how the human psyche functions, [and] what drives people to do what they do," he says. "That makes a very compelling viewing, especially if it's a part of a world that's so far removed from your reality."

It's through the family trope, especially, that Bambai Meri Jaan is able to differentiate itself enough within the larger library of mafia-themed shows. The growing divergence between father and son is the key to the gripping plot and powerful performances. Within "the father-son dynamic", Akhtar says, plays out the thematic crux of the series: "What defines success and what makes you more powerful? Being rich, or being honest?"

The complexity of the characters, each of whom are flawed and most of whom are well shaped, is perhaps its greatest strength. Menon, Kamra, Gulati and Tiwary stand out for their nuanced and hearty performances. This isn’t light-hearted viewing, by any means, and nor is it unpredictable. Still, Bambai Meri Jaan is gritty and provocative, allowing for an impactful watch. — M.N.

How to watch: Bambai Meri Jaan is now streaming on Prime Video.

Bambai Meri Jaan was produced by Excel Entertainment, with distribution by Prime Video. The cast and creators are not SAG-AFTRA or WGA members.