''Mandaar'' ( bn, মন্দার) is an Indian Bengali-language crime thriller drama streaming television series created by Anirban Bhattacharya and Pratik Dutta. A loose adaptation of ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' by William Shakespeare, Bhattacharya makes his directorial debut on the OTT platform through this series. It stars

Sohini Sarkar Sohini Sarkar is an Indian Bengali film and television actress. She played the title character in the 2011–2012 TV series ''Adwitiya''. Sarkar made her film debut in the 2013 film ''Rupkatha Noy''. In the same year she acted in the film ''Phor ...

as Laili (Lady Macbeth), Debasish Mondal as Mandaar (Macbeth), Debesh Roy Chowdhury as Dablu Bhai (King Duncan), and Anirban Bhattacharya as Muqaddar Mukherjee, a corrupt police officer. ''Mandaar'' is the first offering from the library of "hoichoi World Classics", an endeavor in which Hoichoi intends to adapt several global works of literature, to recreate them for the modern Bengali milieu in an OTT format. It has been released on Hoichoi on 19 November 2021. It has received critical acclaim, with praise for its cinematography, performances, makeup, and background score.

Premise

Dablu Bhai is the powerful leader in the coastal fishermen's village of Geilpur. He exploits the fishermen with association from local politician Modon Halder. Mandaar works as a henchman for Dablu Bhai. Dablu Bhai sends Mandaar to kill a

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...

. While returning after completing the murder, an old female witch tells Mandaar metaphorically that he will take over the reign of Dablu Bhai.

Cast

Episodes

Series 1 (2021)

Production

The production began in October 2020. The series has been extensively shot at Mandarmani and Tajpur in the Medinipur district of West Bengal.

Music

The background score of Mandaar is composed by Subhadeep Guha. In a promotional interview, Guha said, "The world of Macbeth is a bloody one. There's nothing normal there. So is Mandaar for me. Therefore, I thought of sounds that didn't seem to be normal- dissonant, disordered, non-rhythmical. There's a disharmony in the sound of Mandaar." The audio jukebox of the original soundtrack album was released by SVF on 28 December 2021.

Release

''Mandaar'' premiered on 19 November 2021, all the episodes has been available immediately.

Reception

Sankhayan Ghosh of ''Film Companion'' praised the series, commenting, "''Mandaar'' is dramatically tense, a visceral epic that intrigues and entertains in equal measure". Writing for ''News Nine'', Ishita Sengupta rated the series 3.5/5 and praised the lesser-known cast, production design, and the direction. Shaheen Irani of ''OTTplay.com'' gave 3.5/5 and said that Bhattacharya's direction has "focused on details used his surroundings and characters to the fullest".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt15516072 2021 web series debuts Indian web series Bengali-language web series Hoichoi original programming Television shows based on Macbeth Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare