Indian Police Force review: With many long action sequences, a police force vs terrorist story, cars, and bomb blasts, this seven-episode series has Rohit Shetty written all over it!
Indian Police Force review: If you have seen any of the Rohit Shetty films, especially Singham, Simmba, or Sooryavanshi, then Indian Police Force will feel like more of that same cop drama. With BGM that even sounds similar, this seven-episode series could probably be called a sibling of one of these films. It's a mass commercial OTT series that has nothing new to say! But that's not what disappoints you the most. Despite being a familiar Shetty cop drama with many slow-mo walks and stunts that just want to pack a punch, IPF is a frustrating ride.
The story is similar to Sooryavanshi, where with the story of police vs terrorists, you are preached about the fact that there is no religion that is bad, especially Islam, it's just people who end up taking the wrong path. You go through a chase between Delhi Police's Kabir Mallik (Sidharth Malhotra) and Kanpur's Zarar/Haider (Mayyank Taandon), only to teach you a lesson on how to be a good Muslim who is loyal to the nation. The series takes a rather spoon-fed approach to say all of this. Unfortunately, IPF is not compelling enough!
The way with which this show has been shot and edited, you don't understand what the rush is to tell this story. Every scene with the camera lens going wider and wider to show you the 'bigger picture'; the color tone goes from yellow to yellower, and the edit is cut in a splice-cut manner to give you a 'sense of rush.' It's like it doesn't want even to wait to build an emotional connection with you whatsoever. Before you even get to know a character, that person dies, leaving you confused rather than emotional. Even the timeline of the story unfolds in such a haphazard manner that half the time, you are left wondering if you missed out on an episode or something in between.
Songs with romance-filled stories, CGI-built versions of Delhi, Jaipur, and Goa, half-baked back stories, and the real lives of these characters are not convincing enough. There is no beginning, middle, or end. With that same walk, stance, a black band on the hand, and sunglasses, everyone looks like a different version of Shetty himself! Everyone's performance, including Sidharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, and the rest, is passable at best. The only stand-out point in the entire show is the long take stunt sequences, whether it was on a boat, in Dhaka, or in old Delhi. This is what Rohit Shetty knows best!
By showing Zarrar/Haider's life in comparison to Kabir's and the rest of the police force, there is an attempt to understand that terrorists are not just that; they are young kids who are misguided. But it is the execution of the series that falters! Shetty's IPF is a paradox in itself! When you start to look at villains as misguided human beings, then shouldn't heroes get a makeover too? How do you then justify a fictional land without laws where shootouts happen in open streets or railway stations? Can cops do anything in the name of the nation? Bring innocents in, beat them without any warrants, cross borders in a van-chasing sequence, and do it all under the guise of being a hero! It's great to show police officers as heroes, but while making terrorism personal and nabbing the terrorists, we shouldn't forget the difference between us and them.
The series needs to read between its own lines and introspect because while Rohit Shetty said in a recent interview that he only makes things for audiences to enjoy and doesn't indulge in social commentary, given the time we are living in, talking about being a good Muslim vs a not-so-good one doesn't sound neutral for sure.
Indian Police Force is streaming on Amazon Prime Video!
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