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Inside Edge 3 review: Losing its edge!

Karan Anshuman’s Inside Edge Season 3 has far-fetched drama

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Inside Edge Season 3

Inside Edge Season 3

Creator: Karan Anshuman

Director: Kanishk Varma

Writers: Karan Anshuman, Neeraj Udhwani, Nidhie Sharma, Ananya Mody, Sailesh Ramaswamy

Cast: Vivek Anand Oberoi, Richa Chadha, Aamir Bashir, Tanuj Virwani, Sayani Gupta, Akshay Oberoi, Sapna Pabbi

Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

The first season of Inside Edge was an absolute stunner. The second season was not as thrilling as the first but it was engaging. The third season has its moments but it’s a laborious task to sit through the ten episodes; as if it’s expected or taken for granted that the audience will watch it till the end. Such was also the case with Mirzapur season 2. Both shows are created by Karan Anshuman and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment.

The third season of this cricketing mayhem adds more politics, backstabbing, and unnecessary sub plots to add more drama and make it last for 10 episodes. The sibling duo of Vayu and Rohini Raghavan has a controversial past about their biological father. Vikrant Dhawan and Bhaisaab want to finish each other but they also have a past together. Zarina Malik is clueless as ever but shows up out of the blue and gets things done for her benefit.

Also read: Bob Biswas review: Poorly written tale of an enigmatic character

What has remained constant (for good) is the choreography of cricket around which the drama revolves. In the third season, the drama moves from T20 cricket to test cricket. The Pakistan cricket team is touring India after 13 years. The makers dig out a plot from the 1999 Indo-Pak 2-match test series which is known for two things. Sachin Tendulkar’s fighting century in the first test at Chennai which went into vain after the tail-enders completely surrendered to Pak spin bowling. And second being Anil Kumble’s historic 10-wicket haul in the second test at Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi. And the reason why the second test was moved from Mumbai to Delhi was because members of a political party had vandalized the Wankhede pitch. Creators of Inside Edge 3 use the pitch plot. One thing to note here is that the person who orders this hooliganism goes by the name Bhalerao Patankar; which are two surnames. It is one of the few minor things the creators have not bothered about keeping authentic.

You’re familiar with the one-upmanship seen in the first two seasons and the lunacy in Mirzapur. The third season has all of it aplenty. But this season is far-fetched. The issues of acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ community seem forced into the narrative. Two gay men, one of them is a Team India cricketer (Akshay Oberoi), kissing in public on camera on a cricket stadium can only be imagined. Thankfully, there’s no gender politics here as the culprits are equal in both genders. I won’t go into the plot much. Will leave that to you to explore.

Watch the Inside Edge 3 trailer here:

Talking about the performances, Richa Chadha throughout the three seasons has looked out of place. Everything about her seems off. She’s merely speaking the lines provided to her. Same is the case with Sapna Pabbi. Her acting is as clueless as her character in the show. Vivek Anand Oberoi who had plenty to play with in first two seasons has been reduced to making surprise entries at places where he should not be. Aamir Bashir is solid as Bhaisaab.

The absolute delight to watch in all three seasons have been Rohini (Sayani Dutta), Vayu (Tanuj Virwani), and Devender (Amit Sial). They continue their superb form in the third season. Sial makes cuss words sound like melodies. Sayani Gupta’s Rohini is one of my favorite characters in the Indian OTT space. Virwani portrays Vayu with aggression which does not go overboard (in performance). There are numerous additions to the cast in the third season. But only Sunny Hinduja as the Pak captain Sultan Ali Khan leaves some impression.

Cricket commentary is used to connect the dots but with a lot of exposition. Commentary is like that but in a show one could dream about on field visuals could show more than the commentator spelling the obvious. Creator Karan Anshuman also makes a cameo as the Pakistani commentator. The ending of season 3 hints at a possible fourth season. But frankly, the series is losing its edge.

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