Join Us
Cast: Aneet Padda, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Arjun Mathur, Raghubir Yadav, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, and others
Creator: Karan Kapadia
Director: Nitya Mehra & Karan Kapadia
Streaming On: JioHotstar
Language: Hindi
Runtime: 6 episodes of 50 minutes each
Can a sexual assault victim, who is also a minor, eat panipuri carefree at a stall on the road, not getting scared of society? Well, if she does, then all hell breaks loose, just like it does in Karan Kapadia and Nitya Mehra’s web series – Hunkkaar: The Roar! Headlined by Aneet Padda and Fatima Sana Shaikh, the show streaming on JioHotstar, yet again explores the topic of sexual abuse and godmen being deeply connected! But is there something new to offer here? You have to wait for six episodes to figure that out!
The courtroom drama genre and the premise are something that is very clearly attempted successfully in Hindi Cinema, but only once or twice. In fact, more than that, if you count all the seasons of Bobby Deol’s Aashram! His Baba Nirala is very similar to Yash Raj Films’ Maharaj or very close to Apoorv Singh Karki’s Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, which was based on Aasaram Bapu’s trial of a rape case of a 16-year-old.
The three different versions of Godmen committing sexual assault crimes is very similar to Hunkkkaar: The Roar as well. All four stories have two very close similarities – a godman ruling an entire community blinded by faith, and a woman who dares to call out his animal instinct legally! But what makes these stories different is their execution and the way they set up the narrative! While Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai was a very intense courtroom drama, Maharaj was an intense social drama! Aashram, on the other hand, played around law and order, depicting the functional structure of a cult involved heavily in crime! So does Nitya Mehra and Karan Kapadia’s show say something different?
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: What’s It About:
The premise is set up in the first five minutes! In a fictional town of Madhya Pradesh, a 17-year-old girl, Meenu Rawat (Aneet Padda), reaches the police station to file an FIR against Baap Ji (Raghubir Yadav) – a spiritual leader who rules the town! An investigating officer, Jasleen Singh Soni (Fatima Sana Shaikh), is called to handle the case. What follows isn’t a simple police case – it’s a battle where faith, influence, media narrative, and the machinery of justice all fight and try to shatter the wall of a godman’s untouchable public image. It is a premise with real teeth, but does it bite strongly? The story elaborates and narrates the ordeal of a young girl in the course of 6 episodes!
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: What Works:
The single moment that justifies the show’s existence is Meenu’s testimony as she finally takes the stand. It’s the rare instance where the writing, direction, and performance align completely. Padda strips the character down to something raw and unguarded, and the show briefly becomes exactly what its title promises. However, despite being brilliantly written, the impact is very short-lived, probably because Aneet cannot get the intensity right, and the background score, which never justifies the vulnerability of this story at all! Karan Kapadia and Nitya Mehra build a very strong narrative, but have nothing more to say or add, apart from whatever has been said and done on this topic!
The writing shines in parts, and it comes alive when Padda’s Meenu records her final statement and begs, 13 baar bata chuki hun, lekin koi sun hi nahi raha! Her ordeal further expands to, Main kyun bataaun ki mujhe kahan kahan chhua, kitni der tak chhua!
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: Star Performance:
Aneet Padda might be one of the lesser strong performers on the show! She looks young, complicated, and refuses any easy categorization as either a perfect victim or a damaged girl. Padda’s performance could have given Meenu the dignity that the writing aims to provide, but cannot!
Fatima Sana Shaikh doesn’t play Jasleen as a crusading hero — she plays her as someone navigating an institutional void with controlled frustration. That restraint gives the investigation track a credibility that the writing doesn’t always earn on its own.
Raghubir Yadav’s unsettling calm as Baapji never tips into cartoonish villain. He’s quietly magnetic, which is exactly what makes him disturbing – you understand, watching him, you hate him, feel helpless, but cannot help but appreciate him! Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, as the lawyer, however, does not impress much!
Ram Kapoor, in a brief role, wins each and every frame! He has my respect for making the audience swell with his last scene in the show! Arjun Mathur’s journalist and Zoya Siddiqui’s loyalist do not have anything substantial to do in the series; rather, they act as fillers!
Trending
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: What Doesn’t Work:
The biggest problem with Hunkkaar is that it simply doesn’t bring anything new to a genre that Aashram, Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, and Maharaj have already mined thoroughly. A minor accuses a godman, the town rallies around the accused, faith is weaponized against evidence, the investigation is throttled by influence – every beat of that structure has already played out, often with more elaborate sequences in the shows this one keeps evoking.
Another issue is pace. A six-episode season should move with urgency on a subject this charged, but the narrative frequently stretches thin, lingering on scenes that don’t earn their runtime. In fact, none of the backstories enhances the show ever! Right from Fatima Sana Shaikh’s to Arjun Mathur’s!
The show’s instincts are right – it wants to interrogate why survivors are made to justify themselves while the powerful are shielded by devotion. But conviction isn’t the same as originality, and the screenplay never finds a structure that distinguishes it from its predecessors. The courtroom and media-trial elements should have been the show’s most promising ingredients, but they remain underexploited. There are flashes of how public opinion and legal process pull against each other, but the show rarely digs into that tension with any depth!
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: Last Words:
Hunkkaar: The Roar doesn’t roar, but whatever it does, it gets saved entirely on the strength of Aneet Padda and Fatima Sana Shaikh’s performances. This could have worked so much better if it had something more to say. Anything!
In one of the scenes, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub’s lawyer tells Aneet Padda‘s Meenu, “Never apologize for being correct. If you are right and you know it, speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one. The truth is still the truth!” This should have been such a powerful way to tell a story!
3 stars!
For more web series reviews, stay tuned to Koimoi.
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Google News
