Story:
The Web Series depicts the story of a team of dedicated forest officials who battle a resurgent ivory smuggling racket, which is based on actual incidents.
Performances:
Nimisha Sajayan was superb as Mala. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she carried the entire show on. her shoulders despite huge star cast. Dibyendu Bhattacharya was also perfect as Neel Bannerjee while Roshan Mathew as Alan, Ankith Madhav as Vijay Babu were perfect. Kani Kusruti and others were appropriate.
Analysis:
In 1991, the Indian Wildlife Act was modified to prohibit hunting. However, the forest department in Kerala was able to uncover one of the biggest elephant poaching operations in the country which was being done under their nose for years in 1995 due to the voluntary admission of a poacher with conscience, which led to the revelation of other extremely dangerous gangs involved in poaching. The web series Poacher brings this unknown crime segment of wildlife with an addition of few fictional characters/scenes. While the initial episodes tend to give a feel of slow burn thriller, the series gets a touch of thriller towards the climatic portions.
Positives:
The series’s director Richie Mehta, who wrote and directed the Emmy-winning ‘Delhi Crime’, has thoroughly researched the subject which is demonstrated in the way the act of poaching is depicted, with several incidents that have spread across the country coming to light in the show. There was a sincere approach to maintain the tense atmosphere throughout the eight episodes, and particularly the final episode being the standout.
Negatives:
There are two issues with the series as it drags in the middle, and after the third episode, it begins to give a feel of overstretch. Moreover, an unnecessary exposition arises when some characters appear randomly, which adds to the boredom.
Last Line: Poacher is a slightly stretched but an effective series.
