Flesh Trailer: Swara Bhasker Takes On Sex Traffickers In New Web Series

The trailer for the web series Flesh, starring Swara Bhasker is out. The eight-episode series is directed by Danish Aslam and written by Pooja Ladha Surti, who is known for co-writing the National Award-winning film Andhadhun. Swara Bhasker plays ACP Radha Nautiyal, a feisty police officer who is out to tackle sex trafficking rings. The series also stars Akshay Oberoi, Yudhister Urs, Vidya Malvade and MAnand. It will be available for streaming on Eros Now from August 21.

The Trailer

The trailer opens by stating that the web-series is “Based on disturbing, shocking real events." We see reports of missing girls flooding the police station, while on the other hand, the plight of these young girls who are caught in the web of trafficking is shown onscreen. An NRI couple (Vidya Malvade and Yudhishtir Urs) seeks ACP Radha Nautiyal’s (Swara Bhasker) help to find their daughter (Mahima Makwana). Radha takes up the case, but as she investigates, things only get murkier. We see blood, we see violence and we also see Bhasker's character performing some parkour stunts. We are also introduced to the antagonist of the series (played by Akshay Oberoi) who is seemingly the leader of a trafficking ring in Kolkata.

Also Read: Kangana Calls Out Taapsee Pannu, Swara Bhasker In Nepotism Debate, But Who’s Really The Enemy?

Data Regarding Human Trafficking In India

According to data, human trafficking affects more than 50 million people in India. A report by the National Crime Records Bureau, suggests that a total of 5264 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2018. 64 percent of the victims were women, 48 percent of which were below 18 years of age. A significant number of such trafficked children are subjected to sexual exploitation. Many trafficked women are also forced to work as domestic servants, beggars, and factory workers, while some have reportedly been used as child soldiers by insurgent or terrorist groups. This flesh trade happens across borders too, where many women and girls from neighbouring countries are smuggled inside India for sexual exploitation. Similarly, Indian women are also trafficked to the Middle East for the same purpose.

A thriller on a relevant issue

In light of such gruesome realities, the theme of human trafficking picked up by the web series is both relevant and important in today’s context. Swara Bhasker’s character in the trailer reminds one of Rani Mukherjee’s Shivani Shivaji Roy from Mardaani (2014). Bhasker’s Radha is rough and brawny as a police officer of her calibre should be. Both her accent and her dialect are on-point, but that is not surprising coming from an actress whose last show Rasbhari saw her switching between two different accents within a matter of seconds. The dark lighting adds up to the eeriness of the crime thriller, as the audience begins to wonder if Radha’s reaction to her case also speaks of a personal vendetta against sex traffickers.

Also Read: Textbooks Should Have Info On Human Trafficking: Gandhi

To watch a female police officer singlehandedly bust a human trafficking ring will be interesting, to say the least. Since the series is coming out on an OTT streaming platform, one can definitely expect it to be gorier than regular TV shows on the same subject. What remains to be seen is whether the narrative gets lost in bloodbath and stunts, or rises above it to deliver a thriller that addresses the delicate issues at hand in a sensitive manner.

Picture Credit: YouTube Screenshot

Dyuti Gupta is an intern with SheThePeople.TV. The views expressed are the author’s own.