Mumbai’s mafia, gang wars in North India, these are quite commonly portrayed in shows and web series, however, we’d never seen the combination of Rajasthan and drug lords ever. Much to our delight, we were able to witness this in Disney + Hotstar’s brand new crime thriller Aarya. To begin with, Sushmita Sen is back and how! She might have taken her time, but it was all worth it. She’s back as Aarya on the nine-part series, co-created by Ram Madhwani and Sandeep Modi – based on the Dutch drama Penoza.
Aarya (Sushmita Sen) hails from an affluent family of drug lords in Rajasthan, while her husband Tej (Chandrachud Singh) runs a pharmaceutical company, but it is actually a front for an illicit drug business. Complications arise because of something dangerous involving his business partners, and yet another drug lord Shekhawat. Then begins a long game of double-crossing and backstabbing. Aarya is faced with a thousand questions at every step- who to trust? Who’s trying to destroy her? And so on. Will Aarya be able to handle it? All of that makes for this mad mix of plots and subplots they call Aarya!
Let’s take a look at worked, and what didn’t. There were too many characters and subplots that you really have to focus on to keep up with. Also, there were too many episodes, and instead of nine parts, they could have cut it short with perhaps just 7 episodes. There wasn’t enough for Sikander Kher to do, and while we thought his character would eventually take off, it didn’t.
But then what tilted things in favour of this show? Two words- Sushmita Sen! It’s a one-woman show, and Sushmita struck back with a stellar performance, making her comeback a memorable one. So, go ahead and binge on this series, because it’s definitely a thumbs-up from our side!
Our Verdict- Binge-Worthy!
Image Source: IMDb, bangladeshpost.net