A standalone followup to Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, this new instalment is set in Kolkata, with the only similarity being a cop bringing down a crime nexus. In Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, the corruption is deep-rooted, wherein the politicians in power already have an alliance with gangsters. The Hindi series, created by Neeraj Pandej, boasts of a star-studded cast who fill out the erractic narrative in which every man and woman is out for themselves. The crime thriller is set in the early 2000s, with Parambrata Chatterjee playing an honorable cop who sets out to break up the lawlessness in the city. However, his death sets off a chain of events that leads to the downfall of the whole criminal alliance between the ruling party, the cops, and the top crime lord Bagha (Saswata Chatterjee). Afterwards, the balance of power continues to shift as everyone tries to make a play. But with a new man on the scene with IPS Arjun Maitra (Jeet), it starts off a bloody game of chess.

Ruffians in Kolkata kidnap a noted politician’s grandson. A sincere officer Saptarshi comes on board to resolve the issue, seemingly linked to a dreaded gangster Bagha. While the boy is released, tensions erupt between Bagha and his henchmen, eventually leading to twin murders. A new cop Arjun Maitra comes on board to clean the mess. Jeet holds his own as a police officer with a conscience. He plays a straightforward character (sans much evolution), ensuring restraint and keeping his emotions at check. Prosenjit Chatterjee is perfectly cast as a crooked politician. The performer uses all his experience well, bringing a method to the madness. Chitrangada Singh, despite a late resurgence, is wasted in a one-note role. Playing friends-turned-foes, both Ritwik Bhowmik and Aadil Zafar Khan display adequate spunk and verve in their portrayals. Parambrata Chatterjee and Saswata Chatterjee don’t get to do much in the ‘basic’ roles. Amidst the heavyweights, Aakansha Singh holds the fort, performing a crucial role with composure. Mimoh Chakraborty tries to make the most of a well-etched character. Shraddha Das looks like a dream in a brief appearance.

The second outing of a well-made franchise is a tough nut to crack. ‘Khakee: The Bengal Chapter’, a standalone sequel to Neeraj Pandey’s acclaimed series ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’, faces the same acid test of great expectations. The anticipation is high, but can the master of thrillers up the game once again, or ends up delivering more of the same? Showrunner Pandey’s creative signature is writ all over as the series brims with immense possibilities. Only, these mostly remain unrealised. The subject at hand, a self-righteous cop pitted against the politician-gangster nexus, is nearly on the same lines as ‘The Bihar Chapter’, which was based on the memoir, ‘Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught’, by Amit Lodha. ‘The Bengal Chapter’ is a fictional story written by Pandey, Debatma Mandal and Samrat Chakroborty.

Neeraj Pandey’s Khakee: The Bengal Chapter is a sequel series to his own Khakee: The Bihar Chapter (2022). As you can undoubtedly guess, the action shifts from Bihar to Kolkata (or Calcutta as it was called then). Across seven episodes, the series tells a pretty focused story about the perils of policing in a volatile sociopolitical environment such as West Bengal, the nexus between politicians and the mafia, and a lot more. Here is everything you need to know about the story and ending of Khakee: The Bengal Chapter’s ending, as well as its release date, cast, and more. The crime thriller series is mostly the story of IPS Arjun Maitra (Jeet) and his struggle against the criminal elements in the city. He is transferred to Kolkata to replace his recently murdered predecessor, Saptarshi Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee). Now, he is a pretty straightforward cop who deals with crime and its perpetrators as he sees fit, without worrying as to whether the criminal is an offspring of some big-shot politician. However, now he is in Kolkata, where the criminals and politicians are virtually indistinguishable from each other. Is he equipped enough to survive, or will he end up shot dead on the street like Saptarshi?

‘प्रेम कहानी यारों देखी, देवदास की पारो देखी, जर्दा पान का पत्ता देखा, अजब गजब कलकत्ता देखा, किस्सा है गुरदेव का सुर ताल का, एक और रंग भी देखिए बंगाल का’, ये खूबसूरत बोल हैं फिल्ममेकर नीरज पांडे की नई वेब सीरीज ‘खाकी: द बंगाल चैप्टर’ के ओपनिंग ट्रैक के, जो बंगाल का एक अलग रंग दिखाने का दावा करती है। अपनी खाकी फ्रेंचाइजी के तहत बिहार के बाद नीरज पांडे अब इसकी दूसरी कड़ी ‘द बंगाल चैप्टर’ लाए हैं। हालांकि, दावे से उलट कहानी में कोई ऐसा अनूठापन नहीं है। राजनीति, गैंगस्टर और पुलिस के नेक्सस की कहानियां पहले भी कई आ चुकी हैं, लेकिन कोलकाता की गलियों में भागती इस चोर-पुलिस के कहानी में बंगाल की संस्कृति, बोली-बानी और बांग्ला के नामी कलाकारों का समावेश इसे आकर्षक बनाता है। कहानी ‘सिटी ऑफ जॉय’ के ‘सिटी ऑफ भॉय’ बनने की है, जिसे सुधारने का जिम्मा एक ईमानदार और बहादुर खाकीधारी उठाता है। शुरुआत सत्ताधारी पार्टी के एक नेता के पोते की किडनैपिंग से होती है, जिसे खोजने के लिए ईमानदार पुलिस अधिकारी सप्तऋषि सिन्हा (परमव्रत चटर्जी) को एसआईटी में लाया जाता है। सप्तऋषि यहां लोकल डॉन शंकर बरुआ उर्फ बाघा (सास्वत चटर्जी) के आतंक से रूबरू होता है। बाघा अपने दो लड़कों जय-वीरू सागोर तालुकदार (रित्विक भौमिक) और रंजीत ठाकुर (आदिल खान) के साथ मिलकर स्मगलिंग से लेकर दिनदहाड़े किसी का गला रेतने तक, सब कुछ बेखौफ होकर करता है, क्योंकि उसके सिर पर सत्ताधारी पार्टी के ताकतवर नेता बरुन रॉय (प्रोसेनजीत चटर्जी) का हाथ है। चूंकि, इलेक्शन सिर पर है और विपक्ष की नेता निवेदिता बसाक (चित्रांगदा सिंह) शहर के हालात का मुद्दा बनाती है, इसलिए वो सप्तऋषि के जरिए बाघा पर लगाम कसने का दिखावा करते हैं। हालांकि, इस लड़ाई में सप्तऋषि जल्द ही शहीद हो जाते हैं और तब एंट्री होती है, सुपरकॉप अर्जुन मैत्रा (जीत) की। अर्जुन नियमों-निर्देशों को ताख पर रखकर गुनहगारों को सबक सिखाने वाला ऑफिसर है। ऐसे में वह बाघा, सागोर और रंजीत के आतंक से कोलकाता को कैसे भयमुक्त कराता है, यह सीरीज देखकर पता चलेगा।

A good student of cinema, creator Neeraj Pandey keeps revising chapters that eulogise the exploits of men in uniform and fatigues. This is a syllabus where he scores well. After an engrossing Bihar file that took us to the vortex of caste and crime in Bihar, Pandey and his creative team travel further east to open a window on the games politicians play for power in West Bengal. Barun Roy (Prosenjit Chatterjee), a powerful politician and businessman, uses criminals and policemen to remain ahead of the opposition, led by Nibedita Basak (Chitrangada Singh). Ganglord Shankar Barua (Saswata Chatterjee), who has risen from poverty to gain popularity among the deprived, does a dirty job for the kingmaker. However, in the politics of fear, Baruah alias Bagha loses control over his den when his two enterprising acolytes, Sagar (Ritwik Biswas) and Ranjit (Adil Khan), let their egos and ambition get the better of them and they shoot down two police officers. To clear the mess, Roy brings in an honest police officer Ajay Mitra (Jeet) for whom ends are more important than means. But, as expected, the plan backfires.

Show creator Neeraj Pandey shifts the men (and one token woman) in khaki across the state border to plonk them among the gangsters and politicians of West Bengal. Netas and criminals go hand in hand whichever state they may be in. It takes off with police officers Aartrika (Aakanksha Singh) and Himel (Mimoh Chakraborty) meeting with an accident. They’ve been hit. There’s a mole in their team. CM Shirshendu Chatterjee (Subhasish Mukherjee) and suave, wily party heavyweight Barun (Prosenjit Chatterjee) would like to continue with pliable police officers and have their secret alliances with gangsters like Shankar Bagha (Saswata Chatterjee). But opposition leader Nibedita Basak (Chitrangada Singh) is screaming her lungs out about the destruction of Bengal by the ruling party and its criminal buddies. “The City of Joy has turned into a City of Bhoy (fear)”.

With the catchy title song going, ‘ek aur rang bhi dekhiye Bengal ka’, we are hopeful that this new Neeraj Pandey series, Khakee The Bengal Chapter, set in Calcutta/Kolkata, will actually be different. The eight-part show starts with a kidnapping gone wrong, and then the story begins unpacking its wares in right earnest: sloppy goons, sharp cops, a posse of politicians with murky underground connections, nefarious activities involving dead bodies and organ harvesting. A promising start quickly descends into predictability. The beats are familiar, the character types are even more so. Apart from the fact that the faces are mostly Bengali actors — some familiar, some not so — Khakee The Bengal Chapter comes off as same old. And that’s too bad, because the ensemble comprises some of the most popular actors working in Bengali, starting with top stars Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, and Jeet, amongst others.

Police vs the underworld is a trope that Indian cinema has adapted too many times. An honest officer trying to clean the system even as he and his force are outdone by smart crooks who are hand in glove with the powerful leaders is a story well too familiar. Netflix’s new series Khakee: The Bengal Chapter falls in a similar category- where an honest and brave IPS officer is out to clean up the city- in this case Kolkata- even as his work is hindered by powerful leaders and local crooks. Showrunner Neeraj Pandey and directors Debatma Mandal and Tushar Kanti Roy shift the cop drama from rural Bihar (The first part was Khakee: The Bihar Chapter) to the underbelly of Kolkata where goons and politicians work hand in hand and run a nexus of organ trading, kidnapping, real estates and more. Everyone knows that the system is corrupt and people in government are involved but the honest are scared to raise an alarm while the local goons want a piece of the pie.

LAST WEEK, a tightly wound, one-shot wonder called Adolescence dropped on Netflix. It took a couple of days and the verdict was out: this is the streamer’s breakout show of the year. Like Baby Reindeer was in the previous year and the first season of Squid Games, the Korean survival thriller, was in 2021. The list keeps expanding as one looks back but the dearth of Indian titles is conspicuous. Vikramaditya Motwane’s Sacred Games (2018) was a formidable start but the mentions have only been leaner with time. There is a distinct kind of non-commital work that is more content in occupying space than inhabiting time. They speak a lot but say too little. Except for Motwane’s Black Warrant (co-directed by Satyanshu Singh), most Netflix originals from India this year have been an assembly line of similar-looking production. Neeraj Pandey’s sprawling Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, the second part of his Khakee franchise, is the newest addition.