Bloody Brothers review: Shaad Ali’s ambition starring Jaideep Ahlawat and Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub losses steam

OTT web series Bloody Brothers review

Jagga (Jaideep) and Daljeet (Ayub) unwittingly run over an old man while driving back home from a party late in the night. They put the dead body back in his house but when the people around them get more suspicious, their lives begin to fall apart.

What follows thereafter is a series of lies to conceal the truth and the team of writers (Siddhrath Hirwe, Anuj Rajoria, Riya Poojary, Navnit Singh Raju) garnish the narrative with intrigue and satire.

While Bloody Brothers ambitiously wishes to don the tuxedo of a gripping and twisted dark dramedy, the lazy screenplay plays spoilsport here, butchering your interest to stay invested.

Shaad Ali surrounds Ahlawat and Ayyub with a strong supporting starcast that includes the likes of Shruti Seth( as Jaggi's ball-busting and overtly suspicious wife), Tina Desai ( Daljeet's girlfriend) and Maya Alagh(seen after a hiatus) and the plot unfolds in the quaint and serene town of Ooty with the deliciously twisted camarederie between the brothers forming the core.

Performances

Even though the writing that directly transplants the situations into the Indian context is a letdown, Bloody Brothers is salvaged to a good extent by its pivotal characters who elevate the mediocre execution. While Ahlawat plays the part of the shrewd, self-centered control freak with panache and authority, Ayyub is restrained as the naive and grounded Daljeet who lives under the shadow of his elder brother.

They lend an intuitive angle to their dynamics which is governed by the stakes of the extraordinary situation they are pushed into.

Jeetendra Joshi does a good job playing Dushyant but Satish Kaushik is horrendous. The female brigade comprising Shruti, Tina and Alagh is impressive but the lesbian undertones lent by Mugdha Godse are half baked and baffling.

Final Words

Bloody Brothers is as deceptive as its title - there is no blood here. The drama and the humor work only intermittently but it could have been much more under the aegis of a more powerful vision.

I go with 2.5 stars out of 5. The six episode series is streaming on Zee5 from 18th March.