Binge-watching Breathe

Some time recently I took a subscription for Amazon Prime. I took the subscription mainly for the free next day delivery on purchase.

But one side-effect of the subscription has been access to some really great series and movies.

And one of the best of the lot, which I want to share in this blog post is Breathe.

The Story

Breathe is an Amazon Original series and the first season consists of eight gripping episodes of a cat and mouse game between a cop and a serial killer.

The two main protagonists are Kabir Sawant (Amit Sadh) – a brilliant but unconventional officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch, and Danny Mascarenhas (Madhavan) – a football coach and single dad of a terminally ill child.

On the surface, this is a simple cop vs killer story, but there are several underlying themes that give this series an extra gravitas.

There is the underlying thread of a father’s love for his son. Kabir’s grief over the tragic death of his child spills over hurting his marriage, career, and sanity. Mascarenhas’ love for his son makes him contemplate some of the most horrific acts nonchalantly.

The Acting

Both the actors play their role with ease. Amit Sadh as the police officer Kabir is brilliant and really inhabits his role. I may go a step further and say that he is the best part of this series.

Madhavan also is good. His is the tougher role, and very different from his normal chocolate-boy roles.

He plays the cheerful loving confident father. He plays the charming man on a date. He plays the careful planning killer. He plays the shaken but determined killer in the moment, clumsy and unhappy with what he is doing but still carrying it out. And he plays the awkward delivery man, the stranger at the door, all kinds of roles as part of carrying out his plan. And he nails each part he plays. My only beef with him is that awful beard. Did he really need so much facial fungus for this role?

The Complexity

Another interesting part that I liked about the series is the contradiction between our ideas of a hero and villain. Kabir is the hero – but his character is very close to being a villain. He is drunk and violent, causes public scenes and embarrasses everyone. He bullies suspects and doesn’t think twice about torturing people to elicit confessions.

Danny Mascarenhas – the villain is shown surrounded by a loving family and friends. He is affable, always smiling, warm and kind. He loves his son and he loves his mother. And he is good at his job, coaching soccer. He seems stable and safe and solid.

This deliberate juxtaposition of the characters was very intriguing. Throughout the series, I was wincing at the grotesque murders committed by Madhavan. And then when I saw his utter grief at the state of his child’s health, I couldn’t help but wonder. How far would I go to save the lives of my kids? Would I be able to kill someone? Would I be able to justify it to myself? I somehow don’t think so. I couldn’t. But K who was watching with me, said he could – not just for the kids, but also for me. I was very much touched by the thought. He then said most men would, and I think that’s probably how men are wired. Protectors of the family above all else.

Talking to K about the series was pretty eye-opening. I never knew he was so strongly protective about all of us.

Supporting Cast, Writing, Direction

So, back to the series review, after this interesting diversion. The main leads were good. What about the others? Well, the supporting actors are also decent holding their own. I particularly liked Sapna Pabbi who plays Kabir’s estranged wife.

I also thought the writing and direction was top-notch. The show has been written and directed by Mayank Sharma. And the singular vision really works for this series. I loved how well Mumbai has been captured. The murder scenes are brilliant too. I found myself wincing at how realistic the murders looked.

That said, the murders are a bit too brilliant, too well-planned, too slick, too unbelievable. But the direction is so deft that I could easily ignore the unbelievable aspect of the crimes.

Anyway, what I am saying is that I binge-watched all eight episodes over the last weekend, and I loved it enough to come rave about it on the blog.

I am now really looking forward to Season 2 of Breathe. I am so curious what turn this series is going to take.

In Summary

Since I have rambled about this series on this blog post, I’d like to quickly summarize with three reasons why you should watch/binge-watch Breathe:

• Amit Sadh – Phew! He looks hot, and emotes beautifully.
• Madhavan’s unique role. I think this is the first time I can say I have actually seen him act. I am not a fan of his work normally. He has sleep-walked through tons of movies coasting by on his chocolate boy looks and grin. In this series, he has acted, and acted remarkably well.
• If you are a fan of English series like Dexter, you will love this desi take on the serial killer genre.

Amazon Prime Offerings

After watching this series, I did a little light browsing of the offerings on Amazon Prime, and I’m pretty impressed at how much they have invested in Amazon Prime in India. They have high-quality western entertainment, but an equal amount of Indian movies in multiple regional languages. I think Breathe is the first original Indian series, and I am pretty impressed with the amount of work that’s gone into it. The quality is top-notch, and the story-telling bold and modern. I am hoping Breathe becomes a big success and that Amazon decides to invest more in quality programming from India. With this series, we have proved that there is great depth of talent available in India, and hooking up with big players like Amazon would only just boost our native talent.