An Average Thriller

'Breathe: Into The Shadows', running into 12 long episodes, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime series.  Here we review the new series.  

Story:

Avinash Sabharwal (Abhishek Bachchan), a prominent psychiatrist from Gurgaon, and his wife Abha (Nithya Menen), a chef by profession, have a painful experience when their 6-year-old daughter Siya (Ivana Kaur) is kidnapped by a mask-wearing mystery man.  Nine months later, the kidnapper sends them a message saying that they will have to commit a few murders on his behalf if they want their child back.  

In parallel, we are also told the story of Inspector Kabir Sawant (Amit Sadh).  Eventually, Avinash and Kabir are at loggerheads.  A twist awaits you, by the way.

Analysis:

An issue with 'Breathe' is that it's not just too long-winding (with each of the 12 episodes having a run-time of more than 40 minutes) but also somewhat predictable once it reveals its cards in the fifth episode.  Till then, the murder mystery does manage to hold some interest.

Director Mayank Sharma infuses elements of a psychological thriller and leverages the element to optimum use only in a halting way.  To add another layer, he embellishes the proceedings with doses of religious allegory, which comes to the fore in the final minutes of the fourth episode.  No matter how much complexity is stuffed into the story, the thrill fizzles out after we discover the identity and nature of the villain and his tiresome villainy.  

If you are wondering why did the writers and director need elaborately-mounted episodes to tell a story that could have been finished in less time, the answer lies in the series' obsession with backstories and plots.  Even Megha (Plabita Borthakur), who doesn't come across as central to the plot, is indulged with a relaxed character arc.

For all the complaints that one can have, 'Breathe' is still better than most of the thrillers that are made by Tollywood.  For the whole length of the series, I was wondering as to how superficially a Telugu film would have dealt with the storyline.  Maybe, it's better to be subjected to the never-ending lengths of the episodes of 'Breathe' than having to survive the surface level creativity of Telugu movies.

Abhishek, who is currently hospitalized for Coronavirus, does a fine job in the series.  Nithya Menen, who has debuted on the Hindi web, is at her usual self.  The other actors are good, especially Amit Sadh and Saiyami Kher.  The cinematography by S Bharathwaa and music by Alokananda Dasgupta and Karan Kulkarni are neat.

Verdict:

'Breathe' has a rather predictable story after a point.  The murder mystery is overlong and sluggish.