Mum Bhai review: Before I begin analysing the many ways the series disappointed me who grew up watching Company and Ab Tak Chappan, let me tell you here that this review is based on just the first three episodes that were provided by the makers. So it might happen that the series later grows on me, although that possibility is highly unlikely since Mum Bhai lacks all the punch of a gangster series. It does have Apoorva Lakhiya as one of the storytellers along with Chintan Gandhi, Chetan, and Raj Vasant. Lakhiya even finds a place in the screenplay credits. Yet it isn't even a patch on Shootout At Lokhandwala. OTT Releases Of The Week: Angad Bedi’s MUMBhai on Zee5, Keerthy Suresh’s Miss India on Netflix, Mark McKenna’s Wayne on Amazon Prime and More

Bhaskar Shetty (Angad Bedi) runs away to Bombay after brutally injuring his teacher who tries to feel his mother up. He meets Rama Anna (Sikander Kher) there who gets him a job at a restaurant with the promise that when he grows, Bhaskar will join his gang. However, Bhasker's quick wit and cocky attitude make a hawaldar egg him to study and get Polic training. Bhaskar does so and becomes a cop. Meanwhile, the ATS team is cleaning Bombay's streets off gangsters with encounters. Bhaskar longs to join them and does. But he soon realises, it isn't all about killing the bad guys especially when his own department has a few rotten apples.

I would like to start with the narration here which is by far the best thing in the series. Sharad Kelkar's booming voice gets the look and feels of the visuals so accurately that at times you wish it continues more. His storytelling seems far better than what's actually happening. The writers try to keep it as close to reality as possible with inspirations from real events that occurred back in the 80s and 90s' Bombay. It refreshes your memory about a city that was plagued by the menace of these criminals who killed for joy, pride, ego, and money. It also takes potshots at Bollywood which often found itself mingling with the wrong kinds.

Mum Bhai as the usual tropes of the genre that we have seen in so many movies. An ATS team that's out on a cleanliness drive and will not stop at anything adding to the death pile that the gangsters have already heaved to the sky. They have a long list of encounters behind them and don't care if, at times, it puts innocent civilians in danger. An honest cop who tries to do good but is forcibly derailed. Raids, cops being bribed and mistreated and many more. Mumbai Police is obviously shown as the braveheart and the real 'Baap Of Bambai'. The problem is there is nothing novel in it. There's no reason why one should be interested in Bhaskar Shetty's rise, fall and rise again which could be a possibility. It of course takes the flashback route to narrate the story and achieves nothing so far.

Never do you feel invested in anything that's been played out. Shetty's younger self was chased by Police and yet he manages to join the same force. The leader of the newly set-up ATS team even boasts that they do a thorough background check of the cop who joins them and yet never mentions anything about Bhaskar's crime.

Watch the trailer of Mum Bhai here...

Performances are just average so far. Angad Bedi shines in some of the moments but is flat in many instances. The scene where he was about to lose his job is enacted rather poorly. Sikander Kher gets the South stereotypes right bang on and that's about it. Karyekar, ATS Chief, played by Sameer Dharamadhikari, is a gun-toting man who just mouths cuss when he opens it.

Yay!

-Sharad Kelkar as narrator

Nay!

-Usual gangster movie twists

- Average performances

- Lack of thrills

Final Thoughts

The first three episodes of Mum Bhai gives the impression that it's a do-over of every gangster movie you have ever seen in your life. It might get better in the rest of the 9 episodes but I won't hold my breath. Mum Bhai will stream on ALTBalaji and Zee5.

Rating:1.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 12, 2020 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).