The geopolitical intrigues of the subcontinent seem to be a newfound obsession of Indian producers. With online content platforms vying for marketable shows, Netflix ended up with Bard of Blood whereas Prime Video managed to seal a deal with The Family Man. Prime wins this round hands down.
First things first; there is nothing remotely poetic about the Bard of Blood. I would implore the creators to kindly change the title, for it does grave injustice to bards in general. There is a visible dearth of quality in the acting. One cannot escape a sense of déjà vu, since many actors, seem to be replaying characters from their past ventures and that too half-heartedly.
To be fair the shallow writing does not help their cause. The story, too, is quite typical and mundane. There is absolutely no grip in it. There must be a score or more movies or series that have had similar plots and hence the Bard of Blood exudes an unimaginative vibe. Being unimaginative is not a fatal flaw. But the shows is rather shoddily directed as well. To pile on the misery, we have terrible dialogue writing here that is reminiscent of some bad old movies of "Bollywood".
The series is incredulous and melodramatic. It is understandable if the secret agents have their cover blown every once in a while. But when that cover is blown in every situation followed by a boring combat scene or stodgy chase, one feels terribly wronged as a viewer.
I have not read the novel on which the series is based, but there are many farcical elements in the show that make it unpalatable.
If things were not convoluted enough, the team takes up the itself the task herculean task of lighting the flame of women empowerment. This is done, among other things, by a supposedly seasoned and senior officer assigning a lady with no prior field experience to an unequivocally dangerous mission that is off the record. I for one, would not call it empowerment but a devious ploy to kill that woman ( she however, faces the situation with panache and an immaculate application of lipstick unperturbed by the grave danger around or the sensibilities of her alibi).
There is also something off, when it comes to the costumes and make up. The beards often don't look real and once again like the bad old Hindi movies referred to above, the disguises adorned by the spies make them more conspicuous.
Given all the things are wring with the show, the photography provides much needed relief. The show offers some great shots of the exotic terrain of the Thar and cold deserts of Ladakh.
All in all, you can easily skip the show and watch a travel episode on cold deserts shot with drones. If , however, you do feel inclined to watch a show on the same genre, you should choose The Family Man for obvious reasons.
First things first; there is nothing remotely poetic about the Bard of Blood. I would implore the creators to kindly change the title, for it does grave injustice to bards in general. There is a visible dearth of quality in the acting. One cannot escape a sense of déjà vu, since many actors, seem to be replaying characters from their past ventures and that too half-heartedly.
To be fair the shallow writing does not help their cause. The story, too, is quite typical and mundane. There is absolutely no grip in it. There must be a score or more movies or series that have had similar plots and hence the Bard of Blood exudes an unimaginative vibe. Being unimaginative is not a fatal flaw. But the shows is rather shoddily directed as well. To pile on the misery, we have terrible dialogue writing here that is reminiscent of some bad old movies of "Bollywood".
The series is incredulous and melodramatic. It is understandable if the secret agents have their cover blown every once in a while. But when that cover is blown in every situation followed by a boring combat scene or stodgy chase, one feels terribly wronged as a viewer.
I have not read the novel on which the series is based, but there are many farcical elements in the show that make it unpalatable.
If things were not convoluted enough, the team takes up the itself the task herculean task of lighting the flame of women empowerment. This is done, among other things, by a supposedly seasoned and senior officer assigning a lady with no prior field experience to an unequivocally dangerous mission that is off the record. I for one, would not call it empowerment but a devious ploy to kill that woman ( she however, faces the situation with panache and an immaculate application of lipstick unperturbed by the grave danger around or the sensibilities of her alibi).
There is also something off, when it comes to the costumes and make up. The beards often don't look real and once again like the bad old Hindi movies referred to above, the disguises adorned by the spies make them more conspicuous.
Given all the things are wring with the show, the photography provides much needed relief. The show offers some great shots of the exotic terrain of the Thar and cold deserts of Ladakh.
All in all, you can easily skip the show and watch a travel episode on cold deserts shot with drones. If , however, you do feel inclined to watch a show on the same genre, you should choose The Family Man for obvious reasons.