The Whistleblower Review: Interesting Premise Brought Down By Boring Characters

The Whistleblower review: When a new web series was announced on the infamous VYAPAM scam of Madhya Pradesh, in which entrance exams were allegedly rigged for benefit of those who could pay, I was sold. For someone who had given state-level pre-medical exam for three consecutive years in MP and then read reports on the scam emerges long after, The Whistleblower promised to be daring, thrilling and unique. But ten minutes into the show, one realises that the ride isn't going to be as exciting as expected.

While still set in Bhopal - the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, The Whistleblower rechristens Vyavasayik Pariksha Mandal VYAPAM as Rajya Pariksha Mandal. We are introduced to our protagonist Sanket Bhadoria - a promising intern who comes from an affluent background, with a hospital waiting for him to take over from his father. Sanket has everything, so he fiddles with morality for the sake of "kick". It is this "kick" that lands him on the doorstep of an exam-fixer Jayraj Jatav who eventually becomes his mentor. What starts as an adventure for Sanket, soon turns into a nightmare as stakes become higher and he begins losing his loved ones. One thing leads to another, and Sanket then pledges to bring the entire system of rigged exams down.

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Here' the biggest problem with The Whistleblower - the lead character and even his friends - just don't seem worth investing your emotions or time in. In episode one, we see Sanket use fake prescriptions to procure drugs which he and his "medico friends" then abuse. He sleeps with his girlfriend's sister. He lands his father - a hardworking well-established doctor - into big trouble, but all this for a reason that doesn't sell or make us empathise with him. Sanket will remind you of Shahid Kapoor's character in Badmaash Company, perhaps the reason why it feels boring to watch his antics on the screen.

The same treatment is meted out to his friends. The very friends are shown partying hard in one scene are later shown writing exams for other students because "hamare kharche hain". When one of these friends ends up on a hospital bed, courtesy of Jatav's men, you wonder, what did he expect? And why would you keep your foot down against a strongman all of a sudden and that too without a plan to get out unscathed?

This lack of thought in writing its characters becomes The Whistleblower's undoing because Sanket and the gang are written so blandly that you just don't feel like rooting for them. Even when they try to make things right, it seems too little too late. In fact you feel angry over their nativity, thinking how these students who cleared the pre-medical exam the right way and have an experience of dealing with patients, their attendants, the support staff etc, make such bizarre choices in life.

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Credit where it's due, the series does take us through the process of how the exam scam is conducted and how parents willingly part with their hard-earned money to make their kids doctors or to get them a government job, because Jatav guarantees a bright future, something our education system never does. The techniques used to rig exams - morphing entrance card, question paper leaks, elaborate system to help students cheat during their paper, involvement of higher-ups etc., these sequences pique your interest, but as soon as the story moves away from the execution of the scam, it becomes a struggle to stay engaged.

Actor Ritwik Bhowmik, who was quite likeable as the earnest and talented Radhe in Bandish Bandits, tries to sink his teeth deep into the character, but sadly, there is no meat to Sanket making Bhowmik's performance forgettable. The series also features talented actors like Sachin Khedekar, Ravi Kishan, Sonali Kulkarni and Ashish Verma but doesn't do justice to their skill.

The Whistleblower has been directed by Manoj Pillai and is streaming on SonyLiv.

The views expressed are the author's own.