Lantrani Review: A satire anthology on society’s absurdities

Lantrani vol 1 review

Lantrani vol. 1 review

Hud Hud Dabangg

In Ganguly’s Hud Hud Dabangg, a noble policeman (Johnny Lever) who has worked a desk job at the police station for 25 years is given access to a gun and a bullet bike to take a criminal (Jisshu Sengupta) to his court hearing. Later, he learns more about the prisoner's life and decides to let him escape. The interesting part is why does he do that? What makes him take this decision and help a criminal? Johnny lever witches from the archetypal comedy to play something serious but there is humour laced in this story as well.

Dharna Mana Hai

Gurvinder tells the story of a scheduled caste woman (Nimisha Sajayan) who gets selected as a first-time member of the Sarpanch in Dharna Mana Hai. She soon realizes that even though she has made it to the Sarpanch, she has no real power. She and her husband (Jeetendra Kumar) embark on a silent protest that takes an unusual turn outside of the DDO's office to fight the system. With a penchant to depict authenticity in his frames, Singh strips the two actors off any baggage and make them look like ordinary people grappling with a difficult situation. In fact, the leads don’t have a single line to speak as they are on a dharna.

Sanitized Samachar

Bhaskar Hazarika’s passion for off-beat topics and blending them into regular and accessible stories finds its triumph in Sanitized Samachar where a group of employees, headed by a wheelchair bound head (Bolaram Das) must telecast a live primetime bulletin, to save their local news channel from shutting down, with their COVID-positive journalist for a hand sanitizer sponsor called Covinaash.

With their livelihood at stake, they decide that whatever happens, the show must go on.

Lantrani – final words

These stories are unique and touch your heart through the hinterland depiction with vibrancy and an evocative palette of distinguished emotions. Don’t go by the abstemious budget or the prod-design, rather observe the unseen facets of the rural and semi-urban India where such stories thrive. 

Going with 3.5 stars out of 5 for Lantrani. It’s a celebration of diversity and has got a beating heart. A satire anthology on society’s absurdities that has its humor and heart at the right place streaming on ZEE5.