Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had a fair share of medical thrillers where the characters race against time to beat a deadly disease. The Indian web series Kaala Paani, written by Biswapati Sarkar and directed by Sameer Saxena and Amit Golani, is another such suspense-thriller that depicts the Andaman and Nicobar Islands quarantined from the rest of the world as it faces a deadly and mysterious disease.
Set in the near future, 2027, the show’s premise hinges upon a familiar structure of man vs nature and the struggle for survival. Kaala Paani refers to Andaman’s infamous Cellular Jail where Indian freedom fighters were imprisoned, not only behind 12-foot-high walls, but by the ocean.
Within this familiar mould of a thriller, Kaala Paani stands out because it stays true to the tragedy of an epidemic that engulfs the characters rather than focusing on a protagonist heroically finding a cure for the disease.
In the pilot episode of the show, multiple characters are introduced whose reaction to the quarantine is largely informed by their past trauma.
Dr Soudamini Singh, brilliantly portrayed by Mona Singh, follows a pattern of symptoms in her patients that leads her to believe there is an unknown and deadly disease present on the islands. However, all her attempts to alert the authorities are quashed in favour of hosting a corporate-sponsored festival that would bring millions of tourists to the island.
By the end of the episode, she finally figures out the source of the infected water that led to the epidemic but loses her life as she tries to prevent its circulation. With her death, the crisis intensifies, and the storyline deftly moves away from the possibility of a heroic resolution to the communal crisis of the epidemic.
The show’s meticulous investment in each of the characters’ past often sometimes makes the storyline feel stagnant. However, despite the occasional lag in plot progression, the fast-paced nature of the show makes up for it.
Dr Gagra, a researcher played by Radhika Mehrotra, is another pivotal character in determining the course of the epidemic crisis. Although a competent and experienced scholar, her self-doubt and trauma about her caste identity often hinder her journey towards finding the cure.
L.G. Qadri, played by Ashutosh Gowariker, in a theatrical speech introduces ‘the trolley problem’ upon which the moral dilemma of the show hinges. This philosophical experiment asks: if one had a choice, should they allow a train to run on its track and kill five people working ahead, or should they flip the switch so that the train changes its track and kills one innocent person instead?
Also Read: ‘Kaala Paani’ Is a Well Mounted Thriller That Doesn’t Trust Itself Enough To Forgo the Melodrama
This becomes the potent tool with which every cruel bureaucratic choice is justified, to the extent that even the genocide of tribal communities is proposed and considered as the difficult but righteous option towards the climax of the show.
At the same time, a local taxi driver named Chiranjeevi (played by Sukant Goel) who was a sceptic of tribal welfare activism and the environment, finally becomes a devoted protector of the tribal community after discovering a deeper connection.
The show also features a corrupt police officer, played with mirth and humour by Amey Wagh, who colludes with corporate overlords to escape the islands. Throughout the series, the presence of the corporation points towards a sinister cause behind the disease, but it remains a cliffhanger till the very end. As the characters develop throughout the show, their concerns and interests also change and influence the final outcome.
The makers of the show also refrain from assuming the voice of the tribal community while trying to make them play a pivotal role in determining the fate of the island. However, the lack of characterisation just to avoid appropriation feels too cautious and unsatisfactory at times.
The show does not relent to the traditional structure of valorising and celebrating certain protagonists as being the saviours while sidelining loss and suffering. Rather, it uses the crisis caused by an epidemic to draw parallels with the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is the characters’ actions and not the characters themselves that serve as the antagonists and protagonists of the show. The show builds up an emotional trajectory in each of its characters’ storylines that moves the audience and demands a few teary eyes quite often.
In the end, Kaala Paani stays committed to depicting human tragedy and even though season one ends with the promise of a cure, the cathartic release of a tragedy is what the audience carries with them and finds comfort in through a collective act of remembering the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Debabratee Dhar is an intern at The Wire.