“One Time Watch”

The fictitious, dreamy town of Mainjur in South India takes pride in having its head in the clouds against the serenity of beautiful mountains, puffy skies, and a statuesque windmill. Home to an odd group of people who hide their secrets and ambitions in the foggy air of the area, we don’t always get what we want.

When we first walk into Shetty Villa, the peaceful strains of violins blend in with the bustle of early morning scenes, where we see a wife preparing trotter soup for her hirsute husband while he takes a bath. As we conjecture that what we see is a sign of the evil that lies ahead, a husband and wife enjoy the soft grotesqueness of their deceitful exchanges.

Former nurse Swathi (Konkona Sensharma) has ambitions to open her own restaurant. Her culinary prowess is confined to preparing an unpleasant soup that makes her spit half Prabhakar Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee), who readily attributes all his problems to acidity. Prabhakar has a past of failing ventures and embezzling money from his elder brother Arvind (Sayaji Shinde), a foolish construction magnate who reluctantly supports his sibling’s doomed ventures, Hotel California and The Last Resort.

It’s Prabhakar’s flashy fashion and retro-style face-offs that scream attention more than his penchant for inspired names, grovelling around his brother, and infidelity towards his wife. Prabhakar seems to be absorbing Quick Gun Murugan’s ‘zimbly south’ image. Until the reality about his disfigured doppelgänger (Bajpayee once more) and Swathi’s affair materializes into a dark scheme to use prosthetics as a stand-in.

Another crime thriller added on board

A true crime of passion serves as the inspiration for director Abhishek Chaubey’s twisted Web series premiere. Before the truth was finally revealed, back in 2017, there were rumors that a lady had killed her husband while working with her boyfriend, thrown acid in his face, and pretended to be his spouse.

Along with co-creators Unaiza Merchant, Anant Tripathi, and Harshad Nalwade, Chaubey focuses on the daring of the offence in the style of a black comedy, including overtones of Macbeth’s ghost and remorse to give Killer Soup its acidic flavor. A scent of Nina Simone, a sprinkle of Robert Frost, a flimsy ode to Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, Tu Hi Re and Manisha Koirala find a space next to Shakespeare’s soul in Chaubey’s row of references.