Title: Khoj – Parchaiyon Ke Uss Paar
Director: Prabal Baruah
Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Anupriya Goenka, Aamir Dalvi, Husnain Siddique, Ebadat Hussain, Hutoxi
Where: ZEE5
Rating: 2 Stars
In the sprawling, misty hills of Panchgani, the seven-episode series Khoj: Parchaiyon Ke Uss Paar sets out to weave a tantalizing web of mystery and psychological intrigue. But alas, what begins as a promising narrative reminiscent of the English film, Gone Girl—all ominous vibes and suspenseful undercurrents—soon crumbles into an unpalatable mush of half-baked ideas and overwrought performances.
The series starts with Ved Khanna (Sharib Hashmi), a lawyer of middling charm and mounting anxiety, rushing to the local police station to report his wife, Meera, missing. Enter Inspector Amol Sathe, who is less a man of law and more a fiction writer, refusing to entertain Ved’s plea until 24 hours have passed. No sooner does this procedural clock begin ticking than Meera (Anupriya Goenka) appears—calm, composed, and inconveniently adamant that she is, in fact, Ved’s wife.
Ved, however, is having none of it. Despite her laundry list of proofs and the Inspector’s glowing endorsement of her as “The Perfect Wife,” Ved stands firm in his suspicion that she is a fraud. This premise, crackling with potential, is dragged mercilessly through the mud for six long episodes, each one a loop of repetitive accusations, cryptic clues, and overwrought dialogue. By episode three, you’re left less intrigued and more exasperated, wondering if the real mystery is how this threadbare plot managed to stretch itself so thin.
The setting of Panchgani, with its potential for atmospheric storytelling, is squandered. The direction, which could have leaned into the haunting and the surreal, instead feels stilted—as if the scenes were choreographed for a stage play but awkwardly shoehorned into the audiovisual medium. Moments meant to unsettle instead feel rehearsed, draining the series of any organic tension.
And then there’s the writing. It oscillates between being self-important and unintentionally tedious, with plot twists that are more convoluted than clever. A subplot involving Ved’s decision to send his daughter, Tia, to boarding school feels so tangential and unconvincing that it borders on parody. As for the denouement, it lands not with a satisfying thud but with the weightlessness of a verbose exposition that tries hard to tie all the loose ends and explain the inexplicable.
The performances are equally lackluster and unconvincing. Sharib Hashmi, usually a dependable presence, seems caught between bewilderment and ennui. Anupriya Goenka is passable but fails to elevate the thinly written characters she portrays. Inspector Amol Sathe is affable, adding charm to an otherwise tedious narrative. The ensemble, however, feels more like they’re fulfilling contractual obligations than breathing life into their characters.
To its credit, Khoj does have moments where its ambition shines through—a clever shot here, an evocative line there—but these are fleeting. For a series that claims to peer “beyond the shadows,” it gets hopelessly lost in them, delivering a mystery that is less edge-of-the-seat and more head-in-hands. Perhaps, the real khoj is for a tighter script and a more compelling narrative.
