Title: Gyaarah Gyaarah
Director: Umesh Bist
Cast: Raghav Juyal, Kritika Kamra, Dhairya Karwa, Harsh Chaya, Nitish Pandey
Where: Streaming on Zee5
Rating: 3.5 stars
This series, the latest entrant in the crowded world of time-travel dramas, invites us to leap back to 2016 in Uttarakhand, where crime-solving takes on a whole new dimension. It is not just another jaunt through wormholes and paradoxes; it ambitiously combines the crime thriller genre with time travel, creating a narrative as intriguing as it is complex.
On the surface, Gyaarah Gyaarah might seem like your typical “let’s save the day by altering the past” saga, but it quickly peels back layers to reveal a deeper, more intricate narrative. Enter Yug Arya, our fresh-faced police officer (played with an endearing earnestness by Raghav Juyal), who has barely found his bearings in the station before he is thrust into the vortex of a cold case: the abduction and murder of a young girl named Aditi Tiwari.
In a delightful twist of fate—or perhaps an over-caffeinated writer’s imagination—Yug stumbles upon an old walkie-talkie that crackles to life precisely at 11:11 p.m. Through this anachronistic device, he connects with Shaurya Anthwal (Dhairya Karwa, delivering a performance that is equal parts grit and gravitas), a detective from the past. Their trans-temporal tête-à-têtes form the backbone of a series that ambitiously intertwines multiple timelines.
Leading the investigating team is Yug’s skeptical superior – ASI Vamika Rawat, portrayed efficiently by Kritika Kamra. Kamra nails her part with a mix of authority and suspicion, though one wishes she had visibly aged over the timeline to enhance the believability of the narrative. Nitesh Pandey as her junior, Balwant Singh, adds to the competent supporting cast, even if Harsh Chhaya, as the obligatory angry police chief, seems to be on autopilot.
The series doesn’t just rest on its time-bending laurels. Instead, it delves into an ambitiously epic string of cases that span decades, all connected by the relentless pursuit of justice. From the gruesome Tie & Die Serial Murders to the murder of gangster Bablu Barod case involving timber smugglers, the series keeps you guessing how the cases would get solved. The past and present collide in a meticulously crafted dance, with consequences that ripple across time.
One must tip the hat to Umesh Bist for adapting and directing a screenplay from the Korean crime series Signal. The narrative is a labyrinth of clever twists and turns, and the supernatural element of the walkie-talkie, lighting up sporadically yet precisely at 11:11 p.m., adds a spine-tingling urgency to the plot. The limitations of this device serve to tighten the pacing, ensuring that viewers are constantly perched on the edge of their seats.
Now, while the characters’ emotional depth and the gripping storyline might keep you hooked, the series does have its quirks. The immaculate production values vividly bring Uttarakhand to life, but the editing, though generally top-notch, occasionally leaves one in a temporal haze. The background score, however, is the unsung hero, amplifying the tension and drama with impeccable timing.
Overall, the series is a commendable attempt at marrying the cerebral intricacies of time travel with the visceral thrills of a crime drama. So, strap in and tune your walkie-talkies—this is one crime-solving adventure you won’t want to miss, past or present.
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