Modern Dacoit are here with more Phishing and Scam
Netflix's original series JAMTARA 2 - SABKA NUMBER AYEGA is here with more crime but less on the story side.
Jamtara, as you might know, is India's phishing and credit card fraud capital, run by youngsters who appear to be novices but can clear out your bank account with a phone call. The second season of the show begins with the season one conclusion. Gudiya (Monika Pawar) is running for Assembly against her erstwhile tormentor, Brajesh Bhaan (Amit Sial). Meanwhile, while Sunny (Sparsh Srivastava) recovers from his injuries, the Jamtara lads take their "phishing" to the next level.
Jamtara 2 takes an interesting approach to demonetization by introducing the solutions devised by fraudsters to combat it. The show has a few tricks up its sleeve there, but it also has its flaws. In the end, it pulls and interests the viewer, providing some payoff but never becoming a fantastic watch, only a passable one.
In Jamtara, directed by Soumendra Padhi and written by Trisant Shrivastava, there is no sympathy or concern for people who are duped — men, women, politicians, commoners, educated and ignorant. Someone pretending to be from a bank calls a dancing instructor, and throughout the course of the conversation, trusting the other end of the line, he gives his one-time password (OTP). The call concludes, he puts his phone down, and we see a screenshot of money being credited to the scammer's account. The scam-ee, the instructor, returns to his students and begins dancing. He hasn't realised he's been duped yet because the show isn't interested in the personal consequences of being duped.The focus, instead, is on the lives of the scammers, on the socio-political fallout from the expansion of such operations. On how they fall on either side of the political divide.
This season, Gudiya, armed with her deadpan — but not passive — anger, stands for local office against Brajesh, who physically assaulted her the previous season, using the scam money to compel victory. This is hardly virtuous vengeance. It's the kind of vengeance that's planned over heaps of bodies, cash transfers, kidnappings, and lynchings. Nonetheless, the narrative conspires and captures your affection so precisely that you root for her.
This second season marks a turning point, with screenwriting lessons learned. Instead of ten episodes, we have eight, each lasting 40 to 60 minutes. The transition from sitcom to longform duration (each episode was 25 minutes long in the first season) demonstrates bravery. The conclusion of the second season, likewise, teases further unfolding without leaving too much hanging. Along with bravado, there's arrogance, with the storyline bringing up demonetisation and cow vigilantes as side-plots but failing to give them any political heft or moral perspective. A brief remark woven into the arc of a side character, as if to say, "We realise what's going on in the world; we're not playing intentionally dumb artists." However, it is excessive.
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