Hunkkaar: The Roar Review - The God Complex

Hunkkaar: The Roar | Directors: Nitya Mehra and Karan D Kapadia | Cast: Aneet Padda, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Raghubir Yadav | Hindi | JioHotstar

The source material is hardly new. A young woman is sexually assaulted by a self-styled guru. She dares to name and shame him and his followers come after her. “He is the criminal and I am the one in jail?” she asks. Aneet Padda plays the girl, Meenu Rawat, while the guru, Baapji, is unexpectedly played by Raghubir Yadav. As Meenu and her family go on the run, she is unable to attend school, and even a simple visit to the panipuriwala is treated like a federal offence.

The case is being investigated by Jasleen Kaur Soin (Fatima Sana Shaikh) who brings a sense of purpose to the role. There is a crusading journalist, a lawyer with a father complex, a son waiting to take over from the guru and a daughter who handles all affairs. Both sinister and benign, the series manages to say a lot about the state of the media, professional trolls and the reality of those who are slaves to their faith. It also tells us the cost of treating humans like gods.