Kajol¡¯s ¡®The Trial¡¯ Vs Barun Sobti¡¯s ¡®Kohrra¡¯: A Perfect Example Of How Star Power Doesn¡¯t Guarantee Success

Ever since over the top streaming platforms took center stage, the world of entertainment has been experiencing unprecedented ups and downs. Theatres took a massive hit during the pandemic and have been trying to resurrect the pre-COVID era of movie-watching experience.

So much so that cineplex owners have to make concessions in ticket prices and food/beverages.

If we talk about OTTs, there was a time when mainstream actors were reluctant to test new waters in the fear that their stardom wouldn¡¯t meet its true potential. The superiority complex soon faded and many A-listers took shelter under the OTT umbrella. Many turned out to be grand successes, others barely touched the mark.

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Saif Ali Khan was the torch bearer of this massive experiment when he featured in Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Neeraj Ghaywan¡¯s Sacred Games. Many followed suit and took up the challenge. Actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Radhika Apte and Pankaj Tripathi soon became masters of the trade as they got a platform to showcase their impeccable acting abilities. Many failed probably due to sloppy storylines and unfulfilling direction.

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Coming to two of the most recent releases - Kajol¡¯s much awaited web series debut came in the form of the desi adaptation of hit American legal drama The Good Wife. Everyone was curious to see how she would fare in the role of a housewife who has to resume work again after her husband¡¯s scandal jeopardises the future of their family.

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On the other hand, we have Barun Sobti and Suvinder Vicky¡¯s Kohrra, a crime drama that centers on the murder of an NRI groom who is murdered a few days before his impending wedding. Both the actors portray the roles of policemen of Punjab who have to uncover the truth and find the murderer amid pressure from the seniors and the family members.

Interestingly, Indiatimes sat down with Barun recently and spoke about the evolving of OTT content with every passing year. While he transitioned from TV to digital, audience now perceives digital content in a very different manner.

He said, "There is so much quality coming out, it is even more difficult for TV actors to break into OTT because it has made its own pace. Now actors are being labeled as OTT actors. At my time, there was a novelty factor but it took me a long time to break into such a space where I was being offered the kind of stuff that I wanted to do. I won¡¯t lie and say that I was out of work. I was always offered a lot but I wanted to do what I wanted to do. Maybe I made a few mistakes. But it is a tough thing to break into the OTT space.¡±

He further added, "In fact, now it's even more difficult because this whole melt down of bad content is happening again. When OTT first came out, every show was spoken about and people were flabbergasted by this kind of storytelling. They said that OTT is the new big thing because longform storytelling is something else."

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Why did one hit the bull's eye while the other couldn¡¯t? Let¡¯s analyze it!

Remake VS Original

In no way am I endorsing that remakes don¡¯t work! They sure do, if anything, web series like Rana Naidu, The Night Manager, Aarya, Criminal Justice and others are proof that if given a unique perspective, remakes work well! However, The Trial fell flat solely because the adaptation couldn¡¯t match up to the original in terms of cases or the adrenaline pumping courtroom scenes.

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Cut to Kohrra which is an original crime investigative drama with an interesting take on social evils like drug abuse in Punjab, patriarchy in the form of overbearing and dominant fathers (Balbir and Steve), corruption, land disputes and non acceptance of homosexuals.

In fact, the credit solely lies on the shoulders of creators Gunjit Chopra and Diggi Sisodia, showrunner Sudip Sharma and director Randeep Jha of Kohrra for bringing forth such a compelling story in the most entertaining and fulfilling manner.

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Kajol, Sheeba Chadha, Kubbra Sait and other renowned faces vs lesser known artists like Barun Sobti and Suvinder Vicky

When Kajol is the face of a project, the expectations are obviously high! However, she along with a stellar ensemble cast could save the sinking ship that was The Trial. On the other hand, Barun Sobti is a TV artist who ventured into the OTT space and attained fame with Asur. In Kohrra, he along with Suvinder Vicky, Harleen Sethi, Varun Badola and others have given such fabulous performances that it¡¯s hard not to shower praises on them.

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More or less the same storytelling vs fresh approach on Police system

For the unversed, Kohrra has been helmed by the same team that gave us the super duper hit series Paatal Lok. Even though it revolved around Inspector Haathi and his team, Kohrra in no way repeated the same nuances or character sketches. Both Barun and Vicky portrayed the roles of cops with a fresh perspective and the story is multi-layered. It remains unpredictable throughout as there are several plots connecting to the main one. The unexpected dark humour just adds to the charm.

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Apart from this, even the storytelling had many shortcomings in The Trial- right from bland script, dull cases to unconvincing twists and turns.

Kajol didn¡¯t give the variations that Alicia Florrick gave the audiences in The Good Wife. It won¡¯t be wrong to say that only Kubbra Sait was the saving grace as she was a good stand in for the original character Kalinda.

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Kohraa was a slow burn which not only burned well but kept the viewers hooked to the T.

The larger consensus hints towards Kohraa as audiences preferred it over the starry Good Wife remake. Which one did you like the most? Tell us in the comments section below.