The Hindi remake of The Night Manager had managed to capture global attention even before its release, with the lead actors of the series—Aditya Roy Kapur and Anil Kapoor—being featured on the front cover of the original novel’s newest edition, the first for any Indian series. Written by John le Carré, The Night Manager has also been adapted into an English television series of the same name, featuring an ensemble cast led by Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Elizabeth Debicki.
Split into two parts, the first part of the Hindi remake contains four episodes narrating the lives of the main protagonist Shantanu (Shaan) Sengupta essayed by Aditya Roy Kapur, and the antagonist Shailendra (Shelly) Rungta, played by Anil Kapoor. Unlike the original version about avenging the death of the protagonist's girlfriend, the Hindi remake has a bit of a twist in the script and has added many Indian elements to it.
Shaan, a former Navy officer, is working as the night manager at Hotel Orient Palace in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In a series of events, Shaan gets involved in something out of the ordinary and has to encounter and interfere with a local gangster to save a 14-year-old child from captivity.
The scene moves forward to Shaan having to face the guilt of not saving the child from death and carrying forward with his life as a night manager at a hotel in Shimla. But a time comes when he meets Shelly Rungta, the man who was indirectly behind the cruelty, and Shaan has to choose between being the oblivious night manager of the hotel or taking the opportunity to avenge the death of the child.
Aditya Roy Kapur's performance in the espionage thriller, streaming on Disney plus Hotstar, has made the character more charismatic and brought out the role of a former Navy officer well enough. With a past of his own, the character is later seen trying to make things right by working as a spy for a RAW agent, Lipika Saikia, played by Tillotama Shome, and bringing down Shelly, the infamous and notorious arms dealer, under the guise of a businessman. The first part of the series concludes with Shaan having to go through a foolproof plan made for him to infiltrate the inner circle of Rungta and gain his trust.
Anil Kapoor has played his part well in the series, effectively portraying both trust and distrust for a new person at the same time. Sobhita Dhulipala, in the role of Kaveri Dixit, has played the part effortlessly and managed to score even with a few dialogues. Shome, as the RAW agent, has to be appreciated for her charming attitude that lightens the thickened tension in the room. There are a lot of themes and situations that feel wrong, like the portrayal of Brij, Shelly’s right-hand man, as a problematic gay personality, and even the use of children as the trump card for their plays.
The second half of the series, which will arrive in June, will revolve around Shaan's tactics to survive within the inner circle of the arms dealer and what will happen thereafter. The show, directed by Sandeep Modi, has been designed to keep the audience hooked, despite a predictable plot. An espionage action thriller with the theme of revenge and deception, the show has managed to be a good catch for the streaming platform
Series: The Night Manager
Streaming on: Disney + Hotstar
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, Sobitha Dhulipala, Tillotama Shome
Rating: 3/5
