Produced by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment and co-created by Shibani Akhtar, Netflix’s latest series Dabba Cartel attempts to narrate the tale of five women from different walks of life, having their own struggles, finding themselves in the middle of a dangerous, high-risk (but rewarding) side-business, dealing with drug mafia, suppliers, and kingpins, in order to survive. Does this show with an enviable all women ensemble cast that includes Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Sai Tamhankar, Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, supported by Gajraj Rao, Jisshu Sengupta, and Bhupendra Jadawat among others, offer an interesting tale? Let’s find out.
Story:
Dabba Cartel follows two parallel storylines. Raji (Shalini Pandey) lives in a modest cooperative housing society of VivaLife – the pharmaceutical company where her husband Hari (Bhupendra Jadawat) works. She runs a tiffin service from her home’s kitchen along with her “business partner” Mala (Nimisha Sajayan) – a domestic help who works in the same housing society and wants to give her daughter a better life. In order to make some extra bucks, they also secretly sell herbal viagra in the tiffin to select few customers. Mala also works in the house of Varuna (Jyotika) and Shankar Dasgupta (Jisshu Sengupta). While Varuna is a former VivaLife employee, Shankar holds a key position in the same company at present. Shalini’s mother-in-law Sheila (Shabana Azmi) leads a quiet life, barely says anything, and goes to meet her longtime friend Moushumi (Lillete Dubey) at the Marine Drive every weekend. Shahida (Anjali Anand) works with a real estate broker and is apparently not very happy doing a job that underpays. All seems pretty routine and mundane until Mala’s boyfriend starts blackmailing her and forces her to sell weed in the tiffins. One thing leads to another, and soon Shalini and Mala find themselves in cahoots with Shahida, and their tiffin service goes from selling humble homemade food to peddling MDMA in their dabbas. When they are faced with a dangerous supplier, Sheila comes to their rescue and takes charge of their side-business.
Meanwhile, Hari (Shalini’s husband) dreams of moving to the company’s Germany office to lead a better life with his family. He’s very sure that he wants to take a “shortcut” to succeed, and would do anything to be in the good books of his boss at VivaLife – Shankar. The second storyline that runs parallel to the tiffin service run by the women is that of the pharmaceutical company VivaLife where Hari and Shankar work. The company secretly manufactures banned drugs from opium, and distributes them as a painkiller named Modella. When a woman’s accident in Punjab brings Modella to the forefront, a righteous drug inspector Ajit Pathak (Gajraj Rao) decides to expose VivaLife for its wrongdoings. He, reluctantly, teams up with a lady cop Preeti (Sai Tamhankar) from the Kopri Police Station in order to gather evidence against the company’s malpractices and shoddy scams that involve fake drug trials as well. At some point, the two worlds collide, with Varuna joining the tiffin service business aka Dabba Cartel, and playing a key part in linking it to Modella to come up with a new substance. As they start taking up the market share from the existing drug lord, they are faced with a new predicament with, seemingly, no way out. What will they do next? And what happens to VivaLife? You’ll have to watch the series to find out.
Review:
Hitesh Bhatia directed Dabba Cartel gets a lazy start, so much so, that it will take you quite some time to power through the initial couple of episodes. Bhatia takes his own sweet time in introducing the different characters and establishing the world around them which becomes a bit taxing, but once you power through the first two episodes, the paces begins to pick up and so does the underlying tension. The final episode, which also happens to be over an hour long, delivers quite a banger of a cliffhanger, making it evident that season two is in the offing.
The first season serves as an intriguing origin story of the Dabba Cartel run by women, right under the nose of the men of the house and the law as well. Writers Bhavna Kher and Vishnu Menon had a lot of material to deal with in setting up the origin story. There are two plots that almost run parallelly, along with multiple subplots and backstories of each of the characters. Balancing so much in a seven episode series is quite a task but the duo manage to do it well, for most parts. However, in doing so, the screenplay loses steam at times which also gives a sense that the makers mostly end up testing the waters in the first season and never going in for the deep dive. Most of the drama seems to be happening on the surface only.
There are times when the writers try to play with some interesting ideas but they are marred by an underwhelming treatment in the screenplay; like, what would happen if the ones peddling drugs end up trying them while the police is at their doorstep? Or, what if an outsider who was supposed to guard the cartel’s money, ends up spending it while the suppliers will stop at nothing to recover the money from them? Moments like these, or the one between two women from opposite ends of the social spectrum, shedding their tough and proud exterior to talk about things like basic respect and what it means to the two of them, give glimmers of what the series could have been. In the absence of a bit more tight and edgy screenplay, the series only ends up working well in parts, never fully reaching the crescendo that it should have, despite having immense potential. However, there’s immense credibility in the show’s simplicity. The makers never glamourize or glorify the side-business of the cartel. Bhatia’s treatment of the characters is quite life-like, making them believable, seeming too close to reality.
The performances in Dabba Cartel keep you engaged, even when the screenplay falters a bit. Shabana Azmi plays Sheila with a calm, cold, and calculated restrain. She takes a little time to warm up to the notes of her character, but once she does, she’s a treat to watch on screen, even in the scenes where she’s giving chills down the spine with her threatening glares, without uttering a single word. Shalini Pandey is quite earnest with her portrayal of Raji while Anjali Anand is quite likeable and feisty as Shahida. It is The Great Indian Kitchen fame Nimisha Sajayan who delivers a scene stealing act as Mala in every frame she’s a part of. Jyotika leaves an impressive mark with her portrayal of Varuna. Whether it is the scenes involving verbal spats with Nimisha, or her altercations with Jisshu, she nails her part with a hard-hitting performance. Sai Tamhankar tries to do her best in an underdeveloped part. Sushmita Mukherjee in a special appearance as a nosey neighbourhood aunty is such a delightful addition and a joy to watch.
Jisshu delivers well in his part of a toxic, misogynist husband, and Bhupendra too does a decent job as Hari. It is a brilliant Gajraj Rao who leaves you impressed with his portrayal of the honest and righteous-to-a-fault drug inspector. Lillete Dubey does a fine job in an extended cameo as Moushumi but we fail to understand why on earth was she given such a horrible wig to wear. Sunil Grover lights up the screen with his special appearance and single-handedly elevates the narrative towards the end.
Eeshit Narain’s cinematography works well with the look and feel of the series, ably capturing the many moods and vibes of Mumbai and Thane. The editing department could have done a better job as the episodes could have been made a little more crisp. The background score and music are apt while the visual effects by Navin Anchan seem patchy at places.
Verdict:
Dabba Cartel on Netflix is nowhere near to being as bingeworthy as Homi Adajania’s Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo (2023) which treads a similar territory. It takes its own sweet time to find its pace and rhythm. However, once it does, it ends up keeping you engaged and serves as a decent origin story of an all women drug cartel.
Dabba Cartel
Watch On: Netflix
Creators: Shibani Akhtar, Vishnu Menon, Gaurav Kapur, Akanksha Seda
Director: Hitesh Bhatia
Writers: Vishnu Menon, Bhavna Kher
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Sai Tamhankar, Nimisha Sajayan, Anjali Anand, Salini Pandey, Gajraj Rao, Jisshu Sengupta, Bhupendra Jadawat, Sushmita Mukherjee, Lilette Dubey
Rating: 3 stars
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