THE BROKEN NEWS - V View Reviews #74

The web series 'The Broken News' is adapted from Mike Barlett's BBC studio drama 'Press.' The name is borrowed from his another comedy satire of BBC aired decades ago. The plot is about how different news channels handle the same story, how the journalist perceives the news and how television news is shaping the discourse in the country.
In this series, there are two rival channels with contrasting ideologies and different approaches to the news. Josh 24/7 is headed by Dipankar Sanyal( Jaideep Ahlawat). He is an arrogant editor anchor who knows very well to sensationalise even the silly news. He is an expert in converting the story into a big scoop and all for TRPs. It is the TRPs that dictate the content of his prime-time news and he manages to be the number one channel in the country.
On the other hand, it is Awaz Bharti headed by Amina Qureshi( Somali Bender Behl) an ethical editor with authentic and credible news but low TRPs. This channel fearlessly exposes the power-hungry politicians, scams that threaten to invade the privacy of the billions of ordinary Indians, filth in Bollywood etc. The star reporter of this channel is Radha Bhargav( Shriya Pilgaonker). She is after the truth all the time. She wants to expose the culprits due to whom her roommate cum colleague cum friend Julia Alvares died. What happens when the evils are exposed is the basic storyline. It begins with mystery and unfolds in the coming 8 episodes. 
An intriguing story, the exploration of the media house, the pressure the team faces before breaking news, the power game of the rich and mighty, the backstabbing, stealing stories, the newsroom drama, and the brave news employees are impactfully presented. Watching this series feels like the unedited behind-the-scenes of the breaking news. Newsroom scenes appear realistic and are well captured. The dialogues are well written. The writing in the show stars Sonali Bendre, but the real protagonist is Radha Bhargav played by Shriya Pilgaonker, who is a bright, fierce, and fearless journalist. The screenplay too is praiseworthy and the music flows with the show. But, it is the cast who made this story so convincing. Jaideep Ahlawat as Dipanker Sanyal is superb as a ruthless editor and a caring father. He is impressive, talented and effortless. Sonali Bendre Behl makes a credible comeback almost after a decade. It is her OTT debut. She made her character believable as a compassionate anchor, supportive to her co-workers and one who is idealist, mature, calm and composed Amina Qureshi. Shriya Pilgaonker as Radha Bharghav shines the brightest but her character is similar to Kashaf Quaze in 'Guilty Minds'. Therefore, the audience couldn't find anything new. Taaruk Raina as Anuj Saxena, Faisal Rashid as Kamal Wadia, and Sanjeeta Bhattacharya as Juhi Shergil are important in the series as journalists. Indra Neil SenGupta, Kiran Kumar and Aakash Khurana are also good.
Watching this series opens our eyes and reveals the reality behind our Prime Time Daily News.
Directed and developed by Vinay Waikul, 'The Broken News' is streaming on Zee 5.

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