Set in Jaipur, ALT Balaji and Zee5’s web series Dark 7 White focuses on Yudhveer Singh or Yudi, prince turned chief minister of the state. On the way to his swearing in ceremony, he is killed inside his open jeep. The suspects? Seven of his friends from his college days, who now play important roles in his political life. ACP Abhimanyu Singh begins to investigate this case, bringing each one’s motive to kill to light, until the ugly truth is revealed.
Power, sex and politics
Dark 7 White jumps from the year 2009 to the year 2019. The former focuses on Yudhveer Singh’s (Sumeet Vyas) college days, when he was a foul-mouthed, sex-crazed and debauched prince. The latter focuses on the investigation into Yudi’s death, which is led by ACP Abhimanyu Singh (Jatin Sarna), who had in 2009, slapped Yudhveer and changed the trajectory of his life.
Yudi’s entourage includes all of his friends from college as well as his fiancée, Daisy (Nidhi Singh). There’s Neelakshi Garg (Monica Chaudhary), who pined after him while they were in college and is his publicist in the present day; Greshma Rawat Datta (Taniya Kalra), a rebellious young woman who owns a TV news channel; her husband Shashank Datta (Sumit Singh), who’s a lawyer; Dhawal (Rachit Bahal), Yudi’s security-in-charge; Kush Lamba (Kunj Anand), who wants to become the next CM and his boyfriend Yogesh Kataria (Shekhar Choudhary), who helps Yudi financially back his party. Needless to say, Yudi has manipulated each of them emotionally or otherwise in the past, which means that each one has a strong motive to want him dead.
The story explores the idea of power and the things it makes one do, especially in the field of politics. As ACP Abhimanyu Singh says, when it comes to politics, there are no accidents. Yudi’s behaviour towards each one of his friends is a direct result of the power he wields, both in his college days and after becoming the CM. In fact, the opening shot itself portrays a self-assured looking Yudi smoking as Neelakshi puts her clothes back on. He uses sex, murder and mind games to establish his power over the others. The story is also narrated by a dead Yudi, whose constant question – who the fuck killed me? – and cocky attitude will soon begin to get on your nerves.
Trash talk and terrible titles
Like most other shows, this one too has its fair share of cuss words. But it’s also filled with trash talk that seems contrived and unnecessary. In between bedroom romps peppered with trash talk such as the scene in which Yudi forces himself on Neelakshi and voiceovers of Yudi equating death and politics to sex and hard-ons, you will find yourself shuddering in distaste.
Moreover, each episode has a suggestive title – Raajneeti aur Sexneeti, Politics aur Porn, Friendship and French Kiss… you get the drift. Considering ALT Balaji’s track record of playing up all things sexual, we shouldn’t be surprised. But even then, we were, because it was in pretty poor taste. Instead of a meaty murder mystery, you will find yourself watching a limp, boring and borderline sleazy drama with the strangest of characters.
Perhaps, the show’s only saving grace are Sumeet Vyas and Kunj Anand, who are both good actors. On the other hand, the soundtrack seems to have been copy pasted at regular intervals, with no fresh new track to add to what’s happening on screen. What’s worse, even the ‘big reveal’ was anticlimactic, leaving us, unfortunately, with no reasons to recommend watching this show.
WATCH OR NOT
While the premise seems interesting, Dark 7 White, drawn out across ten dull episodes, is far from groundbreaking. Apart from Vyas and Anand, each character is forgettable. There are no cliffhangers and no mind-blowing reveal that you would expect from a juicy whodunnit, so we’d suggest giving this one a miss.
