Different does not necessarily mean superior. Zee’s intentions to provide innovative programming is laudable but the first four episodes of Tamanna House, their new suspense drama, scarcely look promising.
Meshing homicide with humour is risky business as the channel will soon find out. The story revolves around an estranged couple - Tamanna (Ruby Bhatia) and Dilip (Jas Arora) - who throw a bizarre party to celebrate their impending divorce. They invite ten guests and here’s how they do it: Dilip calls the first guest, who calls the second, who in turn calls the third, and so on. The couple has a game plan - some sort of wager - whereby one of the two will walk away from the marriage with five crores. When the guests arrive, the couple is aghast to see that they are not the crème de la crème of society but a motley bunch including a pickpocket, sweeper and underworld thug.
Written and directed by Mohan Azaad (whose credits include the screenplay and hardhitting dialogues of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar), the proceedings so far have been chaotic and unexciting. The weird sets and props do not help much. The glaring colours, plastic fountains, papier mache tigers and fishy looking fish tanks make you shudder. As for the cast, not a soul makes an impact. Jas Arora is mediocre and bechari Ruby Bhatia still hasn’t learnt to act. The lady should really invest in some acting lessons or stick to hosting shows. The murder hasn’t been committed yet but quite frankly, we are not waiting with bated breath. With any luck, it will turn out to be a serial killer who will wipe out the entire sorry cast.
Bottomline: Here’s a murder mystery that will make Agatha Christie turn in her grave.