Forget whodunnit. The bigger question is, why dunit? Why was this anaemic bland murder mystery even made? Was it a death wish? Or maybe a debt to be cleared? Or perhaps someone held the team at gunpoint and ordered a murder mystery with no twist, no surprises, zero interest, from both the makers and the audience.
Sigh! One more dud from Zee5, the OTT streamers who specialize in shooting themselves in the foot. Detective Sherdil is supposed to be funny, acerbic, sharp and bang-on. He also plays the harmonica whenever he is inspired. It could be dead body or a living nobody: Sherdil has a tune—one tune, mind it—for all occasions. It is like Rajesh Khanna in Mere sapno ki rani without Sharmila Tagore for inspiration.
All this should have made Sherdil the most interesting detective since Sherlock and his Bengali cousin Byomkesh. As played by the normally-likeable Diljit Dosanjh, Sherdil is as interesting as the case he is given to solve. An NRI tycoon Pankaj Bhatti (think Mallaya, think KRK) played by Boman Irani is “brutally” murdered (is there any other way?).
The suspects pile up like rotis left out to dry on a tray in a dhaba for too long. Everyone, I suspect, is a suspect. Sherdil and his assistant Natasha(Diana Penty, whose terrible voice is the least of the problems in this brackish muddle mystery) are on the prowl. …in a manner of speaking. In reality, nothing really moves in the plot. Whoever wrote this must be the patron who occupies recliner seats at the movies.
The murder suspects include the Tycoon’s haughty wife Ratna Pathak Shah who behaves like Sushma Seth on a bad-heir day. Banita Sandhu plays the slayed tycoon’s mute and deaf daughter. She sure has come a long way since she played a comatose patience in Shoojit Sircar’s October. At least she can move now. Not that we can tell the difference.
Competent actors like Boman Irani and Sumeet Vyas are either dead or as good. As for Diljit Dosanjh, there was a time when he could do the self-deprecating cool-dude with utter sincerity. Now he is no longer lampooning a drawling accent in English: he is living it. The bumpkin has blossomed.
Detective Sherdil leaves us with nixed feelings, and I do mean nixed. It is so awfully directed (by Ravi Chhabriya) it frequently feels like out-takes from a series that was never completed on account of uncoordinated characterization and juvenile writing. The lame budget matches with everything else on display. The humour is no timid it feels like the joke is on the plot.
We are told at the end that there is more coming up from Sherdil Saab. Next time, count me out.
