A country threatened by the latest terrorist attack and an undercover intelligence unit working tirelessly to track the baddies and bring them down beside risking their lives for the well-being of the country is a different but not a fresh plot of Crackdown. The thriller from Voot Select follows closely on the lines of Asur.
The eight-episode series focuses on a special Direct Operations or DO unit within an intelligence agency RAW headed by Ashwini played by Rajesh Tailang. The unit identifies possible threats and eliminates them before they turn to a national threat. Apoorva Lakhia’s fast-paced and suspense thriller shines throughout and captures the attention of the audience until the end.
The series starts with a sudden raid on the terrorist camp which provides some important leads for the DO team where they get a pen drive which has the names of secret agents and their previous missions. As the team becomes alert of their exposure, they launch a complete investigation to know more about the militants and their suspicious activities.
The writer of the series Chintan Gandhi and Suresh Nair build a believable world where the prospective threats feel deadly and visible but somehow the characters move past them without making any long-lasting impression. The experience of watching Crackdown is like being a primary witness to a video game of intelligence agencies shooting their enemies which comes together with a heavy narrative.
Iqbal Khan in the role of RAW’s deputy chief Zorawar has a TV serial hangover and we can see him overacting in a few of the scenes. Zorawar’s image as a bad boy full of unnecessary cursings is a sharp contrast to Tailang’s calm which Ashwiny brings out. The background score pulls down the series at important points.
The special revelations, introduction scenes and the climax sequence has heavy and repetitive music which makes one uncomfortable. The series is a genuine cinema effort but does not speak a lot. The pieces of the puzzle fit but the complete picture looks blurred or is not that important to be given a second thought.
