Web Series: Dark 7 White

Cast: Sumeet Vyas, Jatin Sarna, Monica Chaudhary, Taniya Kalra, Kunj Anand, Shekhar Chowdhary, Rachit Bahal, Nidhi Singh, Sanjay Batra, Ssanjay Swaraj

Directors: Sattwik Mohanty, Preya Hirji

OTT: Zee5 & ALTBalaji

Episodes: 10 episodes

Rating: 2.5 Moons

Political thrillers in India are witnessing a sudden boom with the emergence of digital entertainment platforms. Adding another series to the genre, ALT Balaji and ZEE5 teamed up for a series titled Dark 7 White. Starring Sumeet Vyas, Jatin Sarna, Nidhi Singh and others in important roles, the series is loosely based on Dark White by Shweta Brijpuria. Dark 7 White premiered on the OTT platforms on November 24. 

Dark 7 White revolves around Yudhveer Singh (Sumeet Vyas), a scion of a feudal family who becomes the youngest CM of Rajasthan. Yudhveer, who is addressed as Yudee, goes on a victory lap with his friends before attending the oath-taking ceremony. His friends include Neelakshi (Monica Chaudhary), Yogesh (Shekhar Choudhary), Kush (Kunj Anand), Tashi (Mudhurima Roy), Greshma (Tanya Kalra) and Dhaval (Rachit Bahal). Yudee’s friends have been with him through thick and thin. However, before his oath-taking ceremony, Yudee is murdered. From this point, the series throttles between a flashback showing his rise from college politics to Rajasthan politics. An investigation is initiated and ACP Abhimanyu Singh (Jatin Sarna) is in charge of the case.

In the current scenario when filmmakers are experimenting with risky narratives, Dark 7 White refuses to rise above cliche flashbacks, overused story and under-utilized structure of storytelling. Directors  Sattwik Mohanty and Preya Hirji make an attempt to keep the series cool, mean and raw. However, the end result is just a 10 episode long show that inadvertently promotes sexism and homophobia. Character traits are signalled by choice of clothing like sari is synonymous with sacrificial, pantsuit is cunning and salwar kameez is contained. 

Not just this, every episode begins with titles like ‘Sapne Aur Sex’, ‘Politics Aur Porn’, ‘Friendship Aur French Kiss’, Izzat Aur Hard On’ etc. Annoying enough? Yes, it is. Dark 7 White, a show that promised to be high on college politics and power dynamics, is unfortunately reduced to a tale of bedroom romps and uninteresting conversations. 

Thankfully, Sumeet and Jatin are in good form. Sumeet, who makes his presence felt in flashback scenes, channels Yudhveer’s arrogance and swag brilliantly. However, his dialogues that are peppered with cool terms and loads of abuses is a major let down. Jatin pulls off his character of  ACP Abhimanyu well. Nidhi gets a crucial character to play and she does justice to it. Tanya as Greshma also shines with the other three. The rest of them are decent. 

The music of Dark 7 White by Arpit Mehta, Udit Prajapati, Chandrashekhar Singh, Revan Singh, Sargam Jassu and Nakash Aziz is fine and blends with the overall vibe. The editing by Vinay Malu and cinematography by Sandeep Yadav is decent.

Dark 7 White fails to rise above cliches, stereotypical characters and tried and tested storytelling. If it wasn’t for Sumeet’s and Jatin’s performances, the show would have had very little watchable content. 

PeepingMoon.com gives Dark 7 White 2.5 Moons