'Indian Police Force' review: Spin-off series of Bollywood cop universe is a stinker

THOSE familiar with the work of producer and director Rohit Shetty in Bollywood will know that his films are largely defined by stunning action and mostly poor storylines. While it’s easy to get away with a product that is style over substance in cinema, the same is not the case with a web series. They require good writing and this poorly executed seven-episode action-thriller is the perfect example to prove that.

The recently released Amazon Prime drama recycles that overused trope of a Muslim terrorist being pursued by law enforcement. While the lead police officer is a Muslim, this web series, like many Indian projects with similar plotlines, is predictable and Islamophobic. The watered-down story is stretched out across seven episodes and rolls inexorably towards a dull finale.

Casting flop film stars Sidharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Vivek Oberoi in the lead roles drags an already-leaden series down even further. The three leads, along with a forgettable supporting cast, fail to extract anything meaningful from the poor script. There are a few solid action sequences, which show what it could potentially have been with better writing.

All the negatives may explain why its release was rumoured to be delayed. Perhaps Amazon Prime knew they had a poor project on their hands. Whatever the case, the overhyped Indian Police Force is a colossal waste of money and has very little to offer audiences who are patient enough to sit through all the episodes.

It is a black mark on a cinematic ‘cop universe’ that has been doing well and likely won’t get a second season if those who financed it are smart. It pales into comparison with the much superior Netflix series Delhi Crime, which shows how great a police procedural can be.