Duranga Review: Gulshan Devaiah & Drashti Dhami’s Flower Of Evil’s Remake Is A Fast Paced Version With Extra Drama

Cast: Gulshan Devaiah, Drashti Dhami, Abhijit Khandkekar, Kiran Srinivas, Rajesh Khattar, Anupriya Patel, Barkha Bisht & ensemble.

Creator: Goldie Behl.

Director: Pradeep Sarkar & Aijaz Khan.

Streaming On: Zee5.

Language: Hindi (with subtitles).

Runtime: 9 Episodes Around 40 Minutes Each.

Duranga Review: What’s It About:

The official adaptation of the Korean drama Flower Of Evil, Duranga is a story about a righteous police officer Ira (Drashti) and her husband Sammit (Gulshan) who are living a happy life. Until one day a murder leads her to him and breaks the house of glass. Is Sammit really Sammit or living in disguise with Ira for all these years?

Duranga Review: What Works:

Duranga on the story board itself is an interesting story. Cleverly written to tell you everything but reveal nothing, this whodunnit is technically a good example of immersive writing. You know everything but still cannot guess who is whom and what are the motives. Flower Of Evil set in the Korean landscape had a lot to offer in its 16 episode run and was a broth that brew slowly and with many flavours.

What does the Indian remake has to offer? Backed by Goldie Behl and directed by Pradeep Sarkar and Aijaz Khan, the Indian remake takes up the task to crunch the 16 episode long show into 9. To an extent, they even succeed in welcoming the audience and making them stay with them. The opening in itself is a mystery and no time is wasted in setting up the universe by giving break to the more shocking events. It shapes a man who looks like an epitome of a perfect man but also adds a pinch of his trauma to prepare you for what’s coming. Boom! The bubble is popped and you now are supposed to live with the question why till the end.

While it all is exactly similar to the source material and almost a Deja Vu for the ones who have seen the original, Duranga will work for the people who are witnessing the story for the first time because it is fresh for them. The storytelling technique that Sarkar and Khan use are quite close to the original but with the Indian touch to it. They do try their best to induce the flavour of the new landscape and even make it look organic and not forced.

I cannot talk more about the show without giving spoilers so I am going to stop.

Duranga Review: Star Performance:

Gulshan Devaiah performs his parts with ease. The actor pulls off the shades he is given quite effortlessly and impressively. One of his character traits is that he cannot smile so tries to fake it. He takes YouTube tutorials to smile and it is a very interesting angle. Though we spend a very limited and similar time with the evil side of him, we are still intrigued.

Drashti Dhami knows what she is getting into. The writers shape her as a woman who handles both, the uniform and the house. She has to be robust and loving at the same time. Though she gets little to do with her personal conflict, the actor does a good job there too. A more emphasis on her home would have made her look even more amazing.

Abhijit Khandkekar plays a borderline stereotype part but also brings the humour to the plot which works until a point. Rest everyone does what they are told to.

Duranga Review: What Doesn’t Work:

You don’t even have to watch entire Flower Of Evil to know that Duranga is partially a scene to scene copy at many points. Even the trailer of the original gives out that the remake copies the structure and look of the main house and workshop. Which makes me ask the same question umpteenth time, Why? Why a remake that brings nothing new to the table?

Why did the makers choose to crunch the story into a smaller version? The speed that it catches is insane and kills all the impact that some key scenes have to offer because we are too busy rushing from point A to point B. Add to this the drama of it all. The makers to Indianize their remake by adding drama at points where it is unnecessary. The base in itself is so dramatic that the added drama ends up making it all look like a daily soap. Add to it the fact that apart from Gulshan, everybody else is a well established name in the Television Industry, it only makes it harder to process.

Duranga Review: Last Words:

Remakes aren’t criminal, but the lethargic approach that they bring majority of the time is. Maybe adapt them into something more and beautiful by taking the conversation ahead. But replicating the same leaves everything stagnant.

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