ESCAYPE LIVE - V View Reviews #71
Escaype Live is a series based on the dark side of social media. It is a fictional app where there is a competition for anyone with a smartphone to become a star overnight. Participants need to make content and if the audience like it, they would shower them with virtual diamonds. The candidate with the highest number of diamonds is the winner and he/she can win 3 crores in 30 days... an opportunity for a common man to get quick fame and fortune. It is something similar to TikTok where unknown faces become a star overnight and generate some sources of income as well.
In this series, we have the journey of six individuals around whom the show revolves. The horrifying story of a prankster in Delhi called Dark angel or Darkie is played by Sumedh Mudgalker. He is an example of the devastating effects of social media on today's youth. Then we have Parkour artiste, Amacha spider from Mumbai chawl, who risks his life without using his brain. This role is played by Ritwik Sahore. Next in the bunch is the sensational Fetish girl Hina played by Plabita Borthakur. She is from North East and is being sexually exploited by her boss. Then again we have the singing sensation Meena Kumari played by Rohit Chandel, a boy who creates a video disguised as a woman. It's a story of a transgender and its acceptance in a small town like Banaras. Finally, the most disturbing is the story of a preteens Rajasthani girl the Dance Rani played by Aadyaa Sharma. She succumbs to the glitz and glamour of the world and sacrifices her innocence and childhood. She takes the growth hormone injection to look big and lure more people to win the competition. With their diverse backgrounds and environments, they are all doing different things with the same goal. Along with the participants, we have a story of content moderator Krishna(Siddharth) in the organisation Escaype Live. He is a software engineer with a conservative middle-class upbringing and represents the orthodox approach. He cannot stand anything unethical...so when he realises that Escaype Live manipulate the content, he secretly exposes them. The story also involves the app developers, the boss Ravi Gupta( Jaaved Jaaferi) who is driven largely by the profit and the team leader Gia Bose( Waluscha D'souza).
All these stories are weaved parallel. It appears relatable and believable as it is from current events around us, stories we must have heard, read or even lived...therefore it is touching. It also addresses issues on social inequality, transgender acceptance, class divides, North-South tussle etc.
Escaype Live is juggling with too many plots, too many characters and their backstories. Therefore some characters and plots seem undercooked.
The performance of the actors is good. Siddharth is effortless, Sumedh Mudgalker shines as Darkie who is unpredictable and crazy, Aadyaa Sharma captures attention with her moves, Plabita Borthakur does her part well and steals the show, Rithwik Sahore did his role with conviction, Rohit Chandel is impressive, Swastika Mukherjee is convincing, Shweta Tripathi Sharma is flawless, Jaaved Jaaferi excels in his negative role, Waluscha D'souza made her presence felt, Geetika Vidhya Ohlyan and Jagjeet Sandhu did justice to their characters.
The background score blends with the theme. The technical department is also good, especially the camera work.
Escaype Live had a good concept and a promising storyline but overstuffing too many sensitive issues could not be handled properly.
Created by Siddharth Kumar Tewari, Escaype Live with 9 episodes is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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