‘The Chargesheet’- Innocent or Guilty?’ web series shown on Zee 5 revolves around the gruesome murder of seven times national table tennis champion, which takes place during 80s. Spread over in 8 parts, the series follows the journey of a CBI officer seeking the truth behind the murder of this sports star. Produced by Roshan Kanal and Ashoke Pandit, Daytee Pictures Pvt. Ltd, written by Priyanka Ghatak and Directed by Shashant Shah, the subject of this web series has striking resemblance to Syed Modi’s high profile murder case, which shook the nation in 1988. Syed Modi who was a top Badminton player, having won National Badminton Men’s titles 7 times , was shot dead in broad daylight in Lucknow, after he was coming out of the stadium to return home.
Though the web series is presented in a fiction form, the period , the characters and the happenings which finally end in the courtroom battle; clearly shows that it was inspired by this high profile murder case of the sports star, who was eliminated at the age of 28 and that too at the peak of his career. But, to avoid controversy after its release, perhaps the makers thought of shifting the game of this sports star from Badminton to Table Tennis. However, instead of focussing more on the sports, the makers of this series have chosen the famous love triangle and the ex marital relationship shown between the Sports star’s wife ( Also a District level Badminton player) and the Sports star’s close friend who is rich and influential political leader. And this is enough to show how power can come in the way of justice .
The draw back of this series is that they have not shown the National level tournament and even the conditioning camp, the way they are actually held. Even during 80s, spin was a forte of top players in India but the top players including the star player of India are shown playing the type of game which was played during 50s. Also, on few occasions in the preparatory sessions, the players are seen playing in white, instead of colour shirt, used in this game. Nevertheless, barring few errors, the screenplay of this series, makes an interesting watch with unfolding of some mysteries. Obviously, some cinematic liberties have been taken to highlight the three ingredients i.e. Love, Sex and Betrayal.
The courtroom drama is more interesting, especially in the concluding episodes. A good effort from writer, director, music director and above all the important lead artistes, who have shown total commitments to their respective characters. Not to forget the fine performances of Arunoday Singh, Sikander Kher, Shiv pandit, Tridha Chaudhary, Hrishita Bhatt, Kishori Shahane and above all, Satish Kaushik and Ashwini Kalsekar. Don’t miss it.