Life Can Never Be That Simple. Review on kohrra

Paul, an NRI boy(Vishal Handa) comes to his home town Jigrana(Punjab) to get married but ends up getting murdered. His bosom friend, Liam(Ivantiy Novak), goes missing. The family is influential. The case is handed over to Sub Inspector, Balbir Singh(Suvinder Vicky) and urged to hasten the process of getting the culprit nabbed. He is assisted by Assistant Sub Inspector Garundi(Varun Sobti). Both are colleagues as well as friends in spite of the age difference.

As the investigation unfolds, the complex emotional equations of Balbir's and Garundi's lives unfurl. Balbir's daughter, Nimrat(Harleen Sethi), has left her husband and stays with her father. She has a kid son. Balbir is not happy with this estrangement and wants them to reunite. But Nimrat is in love with someone else.

Balbir has a dark past. His wife left him. He brought up his only daughter and married her off at an early age whereas she wanted to study further. Balbir and Nimrat do not see eye to eye on many issues - the way her father treated her mother, the way he enforces her to abide by his rules, his disapproval of her extra marital affair, the way he forcefully detains her from meeting her boyfriend. But there is also an undercurrent of attachment between father and daughter which is eclipsed in the fog of differences of opinions.

Garundi, on the other hand, stays with his brother and sister-in-law. He has an illicit relation with his sister-in-law. His brother perhaps knows about it but keeps quiet. Differences crop up when Garundi wants to get married and set up a family of his own. The brother wants him to stay put as he fears that a third person in this triangular arrangement may disrupt the so called peace and amicability of the household and have a divisive impact on the joint ownership of land.

Paul's father, Steve(Manish Chaudhry) never accepted his son because he was gay. Paul's mother loves her son. Steve now blames himself for Paul's untimely death. He misses him. He repents his lack of acceptance. Liam's mother, Clara(Rachel Shelly) who came to attend the wedding approaches Balbir Singh to find out about her son's disappearance.

Balbir financially helps out one of his erstwhile informer's widowed wife. They have an unconfessed attraction for each other. But Balbir always steps back when Indira(Ekavali Khanna) makes advances towards him. What Indira does not know is her husband's killer is Balbir.

These complex relational knots gradually open up as the investigation progresses.

Kohrra(Fog) is a Punjabi Crime Thriller(with English subtitles) streaming on Netflix. This dark and gripping tale highlights the need and importance of understanding and care more than love and lust in any relationship. Suvinder Vicky as the confused father and ruthless cop leaves an indelible imprint on the minds of the viewers. Varun Sobti as his maverick assistant goes a long way to imbue the camaraderie with realism and heartwarming followership.

The script is tight. Narrative is edge of the seat. Performances are sterling. The alien language does not rob the series of its brooding intensity. Jigrana comes to life frame by frame. The generational divide is so well portrayed be it Balbir and his daughter, Paul's betrothed and her parents or Steve and Paul. The exception is only Clara and Liam who are far away from this madding crowd bonded by subliminal empathy and closeness. If you wish you may call it mother's love for her son or a son's absolute faith in his mother.

However, the twist in the tale is Clara's silence. She has the answer to all the mysteries but does not disclose it till the end fogging the trail of investigation. Why?

Be sure to watch Kohrra so that the visibility of the road of life becomes clear of the mist of misunderstanding, unacceptance and fear of society.