Salakaar Review: Naveen Kasturia-Mouni Roy Show Suffers From Flawed Writing, Poor Execution

The new JioHotstar web series titled Salakaar starring Naveen Kasturia, Mouni Roy, Surya Sharma and Mukesh Rishi is now streaming.

Directed by Faruk Kabir, the show is about a veteran spy master who realises that a young Indian spy’s current mission is connected to his past mission about stopping Pakistan from conducting nuclear tests and protecting India.

Is Salakaar worth watching? Let’s find out below in MensXP’s review.

Salakaar Web Series Review

Released in the garb of a web series, Salakaar is actually a 2 and a half hour approx film that was later edited into five episodes to make it seem like an OTT show.

Directed by Faruk Kabir, the show had an interesting premise inspired by true events and also featured a strong set of actors delivering good performances.

However, its highly flawed writing and poor execution by Farukh Kabir ruins it all.

For a spy thriller show, Salakaar is anything but gritty or edgy. While the first episode somehow works, it all goes downhill from there.

There is a scene where Mukesh Rishi, as Pakistan’s president, asks his people to keep an eye on Naveen Kasturia’s Indian diplomat/undercover spy. And yet in the very next scene, we see him going undercover, trying to figure out where the nuclear site is.

In another scene, an Indian diplomat is brutally beaten up by a Pakistani armyman despite diplomatic immunity and yet no action is taken by the Indian government over the same.

There is another scene where a character tells our protagonist that she’s aware he’s an undercover Indian spy in the presence of Pakistani doctors and yet no one bats an eyelid. The character also names Pakistan’s president as her assaulter and still no reaction from the Pakistani people present in the scene.

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Being an undercover Indian spy, Naveen Kasturia’s character is seen openly talking about his mission and true identity a couple of times.

Also, I didn’t understand the point of Mouni Roy and Surya Sharma’s subplot. It had no bearing on the main plot and is half-baked. We are told that Pakistan is trying to restart the nuclear tests in 2025 that were halted in the late ‘70s.

But there is no mention of the fact that Pakistan already became a nuclear power in 2001.

For a show that takes inspiration from real events, the narrative and execution are too filmy and fail to leave a desired impact.

The background score is good, the cinematography is first-rate rate and the editing is sharp.

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Salakaar Web Series Cast & Performances

Naveen Kasturia in the titular role has delivered a good performance. If only the writing was strong enough to do justice to his character and performance.

Mouni Roy has done well but her character feels more like a damsel in distress than a trained undercover spy. Surya Sharma is passable in a role where he barely had anything to do. 

It was great to see Mukesh Rishi in a mainstream Hindi show/film and he is terrific. The best of the lot. Purnendu Bhattacharya, as an older Salakaar, provides able support. But lacks the aura required to carry a role that was given a treatment like a mass hero.

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Salakaar Web Series Verdict

Overall, Salakaar features an interesting premise, good star cast and some solid performances but suffers heavily from flawed writing and poor execution. There is a scene where the characters in 2025 cross paths with a character from 1978. If only the making and execution of the entire show were as interesting and unique as that one scene.

Salakaar Web Series Rating: 2/5