Pill Review: Gritty storytelling and top-class performances make this slow-paced thriller a compelling watch
Pill Web Series Rating: 3 Stars
Watched Pill Web Series on Jio Cinema Premium. So, let’s analyze the cast, release date, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Pavan Malhotra, Anshul Chauhan, Akshat Chauhan, Kunj Anand, Baharul Islam and Neha Saraf
Director: Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav & Mahim Joshie
Release Date: 12th July 2024 on Jio Cinema
Duration: 8 Episodes/ 40 Minutes
Story: Series opens with a group of individuals paying hospitals to forge numbers for a drug trial. They bribe individuals all across the country, including the medicine body, and get their drugs out in the market. However, suspicions arise when Gursimrat Kaur (Anshul Chauhan) arrives at Forever Cure Pharma’s lab to conduct an inspection. Her team is not allowed to enter the premises. But when they finally make their way in, a man runs away with a file and throws it in the gutter.
The file makes its way to a dumping yard where it is spotted by a budding journalist Noor Khan (Akshat Chauhan). He goes to every doctor to understand what the information in the file means because he believes he has found a goldmine that will take him out of his boring job as an entertainment photojournalist. News spreads like wildfire and he is attacked.
The matter reaches Dr Prakash Chauhan (Riteish Deshmukh) who is Deputy Medicine Controller and decides to take matters into his own hands. He conducts lab tests and finds how the medicines are below par. He takes it upon himself to fight the pharmaceutical industry and all the intermediaries involved in this scam.
The company is owned by Brahma Gill (Pavan Malhotra) who will stop at nothing to see his company become the biggest pharma brand in India and the world. In his ambitious overdrive. The series showcases an honest doctor’s fight against a corrupt corporation and their exploitation of the drugs manufacturing and distribution system.
Positives
1. Performances
2. Direction
3. Climax
4. Story
Negatives
1. Length
2. Slow Screenplay
3. Unnecessary sub-plots
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this web-series, planned to watch this series in free time as watched 4 episodes of part 1 and it was good in parts.
Despite failing tests, the new diabetes drug is launched by its parent company, Forever Cure Pharma. Dr. Prakash Chauhan launches a crusade against the company as they prepare to release their new cancer drug.
Pill has taken an important issue to highlight, and the makers deserve to be praised for choosing a topic that has hardly been explored in depth. The plot is promising, and it will keep you hooked. What works is how every episode ends on a cliffhanger which seamlessly blends into the next episode. The show uses good ambient sound which propels the narrative forward without weighing down the plot. This crime-drama is enhanced by outstanding performances that feel credible and believable. Riteish Deshmukh delivers a stunning, measured, and controlled performance and hits all the right notes. The show exposes the inner workings of the scam through its several characters who face moral dilemmas. In terms of plot, this crime drama isn’t exceptionally unique, as you can often predict the outcomes. However, it’s the magic of the screenplay that sets it apart, making the show highly binge-worthy. The cinematography used in the series makes the events appear realistic, and the inclusion of new actors enhances the viewing experience. The series is also timely, reflecting current events such as the recent cancellation of licenses for 64 pharma companies as of February this year. It makes some hard-hitting revelations about the pharmaceutical industry and the way big corporations end up exploiting their underprivileged consumers.
On the flipside, show has quite a lot of characters and it can get confusing for the audience to see so many plotlines unfolding simultaneously in one episode. The pacing of the show is a problem. It is only in the fifth episode that we get to know that Deshmukh’s character is taking the case to court. The slow pacing, on the one hand, gives the makers a lot of time to explore and let a scene simmer before they solve it. But at the same time, it leaves the audience restless. The problem with this genre is that the plot points are pretty straightforward. Overall, series is a gripping watch which tackles the corruption in the pharma industry. It is cautionary tale that educates, informs and engages. Also manages to be thought-provoking and engaging in equal measure. My view on this series Recommended.
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