Kankhajura

In Chandan Arora’s Kankhajura, an actor is pitted against the show. This isn’t the story, but the effect. Roshan Mathew plays the protagonist and delivers a performance that is at once suited to the presumed complexity of the series and at odds with the inert ambition of it. The bravura turn uplifts Arora’s work, prompting a reading of what it could have been had it strived harder, and underlines its failure to match up to the merit of its protagonist. Arora is Ashu, a timid young man who stutters when anxious. And, he is anxious all the time. His eyes are perpetually lowered, and his back is slouched like he is pinned against the wall. His defeatist body language suggests decades of bullying, and yet, he was imprisoned for killing someone. The only person who gets him going is his brother, Max (Mohit Raina), a flamboyant builder dissimilar to his sibling in every way. Max is ambitious and reassured, forceful and scheming.

Ashu is released from prison after 14 years for a murder in which he was possibly framed. He aims to exact revenge against his indifferent, wealthy brother Max and his pals Shardul and Pedro, the prime reasons behind his jail stint. He cunningly infiltrates Max’s life and real estate business, juggling police obligations with a personal vendetta. Who has the last laugh in this sibling rivalry? Roshan Mathew’s decision to chase greener pastures in Hindi cinema, apart from Malayalam, is yielding impressive results. He sinks his teeth into the portrayal of Ashu, a socially awkward younger brother whose trauma fuels his bitterness. Mohit Raina, pitted against Roshan’s Ashu, has a relatively straightforward character arc but lends the necessary snobbishness to his portrayal.

While KanKhajura is an official remake of the Israeli series Magpie, certain updates done by the makers of the show feel more potent. The first being the title change, which fits Roshan Mathew’s Ashu much better. The actor plays Ashu, who reenters society after spending 14 years in jail as a teenager. Trying to reconnect with his older brother, Max (Mohit Raina), he ends up destroying his carefully crafted life instead. The Hindi remake is most effective at trying to get to the root of the siblings’ relationship. KanKhajura: PlotRelocated to Goa, the show examines Max and Ashu’s bond as adults. Max is about to embark on an important chapter in his life as he bids to redevelop an impoverished colony with luxury villas. As Max comes up against bureaucratic and other hurdles in his proposal, Ashu decides to help him out in his own way. Their methods show their different approaches and attitudes in life. The brothers’ eventual clash is oddly compelling to watch as they air all their grievances.

Ever wondered what is kankhajura and why should a series be named after it? Well, it’s an insect called centipede (with many legs), which finds its place insidiously and can worm up its way right into your brain. Our lead character, Aashu (Roshan Mathew), possesses the same ability. Seemingly innocuous, even a victim, he can curl up right into the mindscape of all he chooses to, much to their detriment of course. It’s a rather interesting premise where one moment he is an informant and at another point a convict. But let you be told that the series is an adaptation of an Israeli series ‘Magpie’, a highly intelligent bird with complex cognitive abilities, including planning. It invariably picks up on bright and shiny things. And let us confess, we have not seen the award-winning original. In case you have, maybe the surprise twists here will not be as exciting. But for those not clued in to the original, the story adapted by director Chandan Arora and co-writer Upendra Sidhaye has enough sting and venom to keep you invested all the way from start to finish.

Adapted from Israeli show ‘Magpie’, a chirpy synonym for police informers, Kankhajura brings the tale home, to Goa. Ashu (Roshan Mathew), out from prison after 14 years, goes looking for his beloved older brother Max (Mohit Raina), and finds him very well-off, and looking to expand his construction business, along with his old pals Pedro (Ninad Kamat) and Shardul (Mahesh Shetty). This cosy little triangle has no place for Ashu, and once again, he finds himself on the periphery, desperate to get an in. As he tries wriggling into his brother’s personal and professional spaces — getting close to Max’s svelte wife (Sarah Jane Dias) and daughter, and hovering around Max and his bros — he finds himself constantly rebuffed. His only solace is another old friend Amy (Trinetra Haldar), who used to be Amay, and who now runs a tiny bakery in one of those picturesque Goan villages.

कनखजूरा, एक ऐसा रेंगने वाला लिजलिजा जीव है, जो देखने में बेहद कमजोर लगता है। लेकिन एक बार वो आपसे चिपक जाए या कान में घुस जाए तो खून की एक-एक बूंद तक निचोड़ सकता है। एक ऐसी ही प्रकृति वाले इंसान की रोचक दास्तान है, वेब सीरीज ‘कनखजूरा’। एक्टर रोशन मैथ्यू की शानदार परफॉर्मेंस से सजी यह सीरीज एक साइकोलॉजिकल थ्रिलर है, जो आपको सही-गलत के खेल में ऐसा उलझाती है कि आप आखिर तक उससे नहीं निकल पाते। यह इजराइली शो ‘मैग पाई’ की यह हिंदी रीमेक है। कहानी में दो भाई आशु (रोशन मैथ्यू) और मैक्स (मोहित रैना) हैं। आशु एक मर्डर केस में 14 साल जेल में सजा काटने के बाद बाहर आता है, तो मैक्स उसे खुशी-खुशी लेने आता है। वह आशु को बताता है कि जल्द ही वह अपने बचपन के दोस्तों और पार्टनर्स पेद्रो (निनाद कामत) और शारदुल (महेश शेट्टी) के साथ मिलकर गोवा की सबसे बड़ी और हाई-फाई सोसायटी डेवलप करने जा रहा है, जो उसका ड्रीम प्रॉजेक्ट है।

The centipede is a multi-legged, predatory anthropod. Writer-director Chandan Arora substitutes Israeli title Magpie (prisoner-turned-police informant) with the Hindi word for centipede to narrate an Indianised version of the drama series. Set in Goa, Ashu Gaonkar (Roshan Mathew) is the bechara of the party where he’s out of jail after serving a sentence for murder while older brother Max (Mohit Raina with dimples) is well settled with pretty wife Nisha (Sarah Jane Dias), daughter Ira (Kurangi Vijayshri Nagraj) and friends-turned-colleagues Shardul (Mahesh Shetty) and Pedro (Ninad Kamat). Max and co have just landed the biggest construction contract of their lives which will change the landscape of Goa. Ashu weakly attempts to re-enter their lives but Max shuts the door on him. Here’s some money, stay out, lead your own life. Before you can begin to feel sorry for Ashu, his twisted, manipulative mind which is not beyond sudden spurts of violence, gives him a dangerous dimension. Using his seeming innocence to prise a confession or two from prime suspects is DSP Leena Naik (Heeba Shah).

The framework of Kankhajura is ripe with promise. It’s a revenge drama going through an identity crisis — it doesn’t behave like one for the most part, and every time the theme emerges, it feels a bit surprising. Based on an Israeli series called Magpie, Kankhajura (“centipede”) revolves around the sticky ‘rehabilitation’ of Ashu (Roshan Mathew), a young man released from prison after 14 years. There’s something shapeless about him. He looks innocent in a deranged way, shows signs of neurological damage, has a trauma-infused stutter, and freelances as a police mole. Most of all, Ashu remains needy for the validation of his older brother Max (Mohit Raina), a real-estate mogul who aids his reintegration into society without fully embracing his return.