The Broken News Review: Sonali Bendre, Shriya Pilgaonkar & Jaideep Ahlawat Serve An Interesting Watch That Could Have Been Better With Deeper Emotional Layers

The Broken News Review Out — The Broken News Review Ft. Sonali Bendre & Shriya Pilgaonkar(Photo Credit–Poster)

The Broken News Review: Star Rating:

Cast: Sonali Bendre, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Jaideep Ahlawat, Taaruk Raina, and ensemble.

Creator: Vinay Waikul

Director: Vinay Waikul

Streaming On: Zee5

Language: Hindi

Runtime: 8 Episodes Around 40 Minutes Each.

The Broken News Review: What’s It About:

An in-depth look into the functioning of media houses and the politics that unfolds within them. There is good and bad both, but the bad makes the most noise and it entertains more. What happens when a few righteous ones take matters into their hands and decide to expose the evils is the show.

The Broken News Review: What Works:

The portrayal of media and the happenings around it in cinema with time has become just a mere caricature. From asking the most stupid obvious questions, to only being limited to a one-tone character that walks around with a nerdy vibe has become staple. Many filmmakers are responsible for the harm. There are a few including Raj Kumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica, Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui’s Peepli Live who did justice to the profession though. And now we can safely call The Broken News a new addition to the list.

Adapted and written for the screen by Sambit Mishra (Mission Over Mars & Cartel), The Broken News is kind of an in depth exploration of the media houses which the world knows nothing about. The only accessible things about them to the world is the frame that they see on Television. What happens Behind the scenes is a different monster altogether. The writing in the show that stars Sonali Bendre tries well to bring an authentic reflection of how a newsroom works and what goes into creating a story that you consume in a few minutes.

The show takes an effort to create a reel world that doesn’t brush shoulders with the real world, because we know what the condition of the latter is right now. But do they succeed? Well, no. And that is a good part because it manages to say a lot without really naming anyone. The basic contrast of ideologies is enough to make you realise that it is indeed not that far away from reality. But what is the good factor is that they never at any point try to hide behind the bush. There is mention of the so called filth in Bollywood, a scam where the Government is putting privacy of its citizens at risk, and a journalist who is trying to sabotage this all. Everything making a good commentary but is subtle as well.

The cherry on the cake is Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hai Tere playing after every episode. Vinay Waikul manages to create a world almost away from the caricature and does create an impact.

The Broken News Review: Star Performance:

Sonali Bendre makes her acting comeback after almost a decade. But the actor still has her charm and the comfort she shared with the camera. While it isn’t a very big task for her to create this character, it is the emotional moments where Bendre shows she knows her job even after battling the lows of life. I am excited to see her choices in this new innings and hope to see her grow more as an actor.

Shriya Pilgaonkar manages to shine the brightest even when Jaideep Ahlawat is in the frame. Her character Radha is written fierce and Shriya plays her with an attitude that is expected. She manages to make it her own and never makes it look like it’s borrowed. I hope her personal life was given some more depth and screentime though.

Jaideep Ahlawat has the riskiest job as he is on the rim of becoming another caricature. The actor saves himself most of the times and brings the darkness into the show. The actor does it all quite effortlessly and shows you how talented he is.

The Broken News Review: What Doesn’t Work:

The layering of the world doesn’t seem enough. While there is enough to be invested in the newsroom, these characters will finally go home after their working hours, right? And it is the home part of it that the show falls flat. The emotions their personal lives ride on are never explored enough. There is a girl avenging her murdered friend, a woman living a dual life while hiding her relationship, a man who was once righteous but now worships devil, a father craving the presence of his daughter. But none have been explored so we can invest much.

The show also talks about some points never to be mentioned again. Just a mention of the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t mean the representation is done right. A character is hinted to be gay and I hoped his struggles were also given importance.

Also, how is Shriya allowed to quit jobs without serving notice periods? Please let me know the trick.