Pritam and Pedro

There are certain names in cinema that arrive long before the credits roll. They carry with them not merely recognition but a formidable burden of expectation—a promise of excellence painstakingly accumulated over decades. Rajkumar Hirani belongs comfortably to that rarefied league. His films have consistently blended humour with humanity, wit with wisdom, and entertainment with emotion, creating stories that linger long after the curtains have fallen. From the irrepressibly charming Munna Bhai series to the socially resonant 3 Idiots, the delightfully irreverent PK, and the emotionally layered Sanju, Hirani has fashioned a cinematic identity that is at once distinctive and deeply endearing.

Moving past a heavy-handed Dunki, Rajkumar Hirani finds his deft touch, imbuing a warm soul into the Over-The-Top streaming space where even empathy feels algorithmic these days. Instead of adding to our daily anxiety, Hirani, who works as a series creator, along with director Avinash Arun, takes the clinical world of cybercrime and wraps it in an engrossing buddy-cop comedy that educates and comforts the audience. Reflecting the anxiety of the times when a single digital mistake can ruin a life, the series effectively uses the theme of forgiveness to heal people and relationships. Led by Arshad Warsi, who balances his signature effortless humour with a tougher tone, and debutant Vir Hirani as his father’s creative voice of the outsider who questions the absurd rules of the world, the narrative finds its sweet spot when the points of view of Pedro, an old school policeman nursing a young wound and Pritam, a modern hacker, living with his grandfather under an assumed identity, collide.

Rajkumar Hirani has spent two decades turning simple ideas into big, feel-good hits. The six-episode JioHotstar series is directed by Avinash Arun Dharware, the filmmaker behind Killa, Paatal Lok, and Three of Us. It’s an odd pairing on paper. Hirani makes cheerful, sanded-down cinema. Arun makes moody, textured, specific work. None of that specificity survives here. The show looks and moves like a generic OTT product. Pedro (Arshad Warsi) is a Crime Branch cop in Goa, punished for a colleague’s mistake and shunted off to the Cyber Crime Cell. To him, typing a password already counts as hard labour. Pritam (Vir Hirani) is a young ‘cyber genius’ who actually sells vacuum cleaners for a living. When a politician’s son goes missing, the two team up: Pedro needs the case solved to earn his old job back, while Pritam wants help recovering his grandfather’s stolen tape recorder, which holds an old recording of his late grandmother’s voice.

आज के डिजिटल युग में तकनीक पर हमारी निर्भरता जितनी तेजी से बढ़ी है, साइबर अपराध का खतरा भी उतना ही गहरा हो चुका है। आज हम सभी बैंकिंग से लेकर शॉपिंग तक, गेम खेलने से लेकर दोस्ती और प्यार ढूंढ़ने तक, हर चीज घर बैठे ऑनलाइन कर रहे हैं, लेकिन इसके साथ ही फिशिंग, हैकिंग, ऑनलाइन फ्रॉड, डिजिटल अरेस्ट, साइबर बुलिंग, डीपफेक, गेमिंग चैलेंज जैसे तरह-तरह के साइबर अपराध का शिकार भी बन रहे हैं। इन्हीं साइबर अपराध के प्रति हल्के-फुल्के अंदाज में जागरूक करती है, फिल्मकार राजकुमार हिरानी की डेब्यू वेब सीरीज ‘प्रीतम एंड पेड्रो’। इस सीरीज से राजू हिरानी बतौर निर्माता ओटीटी पर और उनके बेटे वीर हिरानी एक्टिंग की दुनिया में कदम रख रहे हैं। जाहिर है ऐसे में उम्मीदें काफी ज्यादा थीं, लेकिन दिलचस्प विषय के बावजूद रिसर्च की कमी ‘प्रीतम एंड पेड्रो’ को एक लाजवाब या मस्ट वॉच सीरीज की बजाय, महज हल्की-फुल्की सोशल ड्रामा ही बन पाई है।

As filmmakers, Rajkumar Hirani’s cheerful spin on social issues and Avinash Arun Dharware’s moody, gritty slices of life could not be more different. One would not think of them as collaborators but that’s exactly what they are on Pritam And Pedro, a buddy comedy about a pair of chalk and cheese individuals joining hands against the masterminds of cybercrime. Having watched all of its six staggeringly sloppy and staid episodes, perhaps they are better off staying in their own lanes. As the creator, co-writer, producer, editor and father of one of Pritam And Pedro’s titular heroes, Rajkumar Hirani dons a lot of hats and tries to bring his rosy outlook to a premise hinged on thrill and danger.

गोआ पुलिस के इंस्पैक्टर पैद्रो (सब उसे और वह खुद को पैद्रो इच बोलता बाबा) को एक मंत्री की नाराजगी ने क्राइम ब्रांच से साइबर सेल में भेज दिया। पैद्रो को क्राइम में मज़ा आता, क्राइम का खुशबू उसको पसंद आता, साइबर की एबीसी उसको बिल्कुल इच नईं पता। तभी उस मंत्री का बेटा किडनैप हो गया। पैद्रो एक साइबर एक्सपर्ट पीटर की मदद ले रहा ताकि केस सुलझे और वह अपनी ट्रांस्फर वापस क्राइम में करवा सके। लेकिन यह सब इतना आसान होता क्या? वह बच्चा किसने किडनैप किया, काय कू किडनैप किया, उसको कैसे वापस लाना मांगता, इसके अलावा और भी बोत सारी मचमच है इस वेब-सीरिज़ ‘प्रीतम और पैद्रो’ (Pritam And Pedro) में जो जियो हॉटस्टार पर रिलीज हुई है।

A computer whiz and a tech-challenged cop team up to solve a missing person case in Hotstar’s new crime-comedy series Pritam and Pedro, co-created by the illustrious Rajkumar Hirani. The series essentially serves as a launch vehicle for his son, Vir, who plays the mysterious Pritam. We meet the young man as he’s trying to report his grandfather’s missing tape recorder at a Goa police station run by Pedro, played by Arshad Warsi. The cops throw him in jail when he refuses to leave without registering his complaint. Instantly, Pritam stands out as an honourable young man, while Pedro comes across as a no-nonsense veteran who has seen it all. On paper, they make for the perfect odd-couple — the Indian film industries don’t make nearly enough buddy comedies. However, that’s about as interesting as things get, because, at the end of the day, this is a Hirani production.

A young man, Pritam (Vir Hirani), is jailed for threatening a lazy constable. It’s Goa, of course. Pritam watches as the inspector of the police station, Pedro (Arshad Warsi), hears of a high-profile ATM robbery. The middle-aged cops have no idea where to start. So Pritam offers to help in return for freedom; he is immediately allowed to use their computer, and in ten minutes, he tracks the culprits down. He does it with the grating innocence of a child educating his grandparents about electronics.