Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Cast/Actors: Mayur More, Palak Jaiswal, Deven Bhojani, Tigmanshu Dhulia & Others
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Director: Pushkar Sunil Mahabal
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Production Company: Hemal A Thakkar & Swaroop Sampat
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Release Date: 1st May, 2025
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Available On: Sony LIV OTT Platform
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Released/Available In Languages: Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali & Marathi
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Number Of Episodes: 6
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Episode Duration: 45 Minutes (Approx Each Episode)
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Critic Review:
Four murders. In four different places. The victims: a minister’s daughter (Palak Jaiswal), a young adult; a private cab driver (Hakkim Shahjahan); his passenger, a senior police officer (Tigmanshu Dhulia) with temporary blindness caused by a welding burn; a random kid who’d shot a video of the alleged killer pulling the body of the cop.
The killer, a young 20-something (Mayur More) whose name is kept gray, perhaps in an attempt to make the limited series not seem an apologetic thriller that makes one community come across as victims of a prejudiced system. The son of the politician’s driver, he’s soon dubbed a serial killer and has been on the run for two years.
Written, directed and edited by Pushkar Sunil Mahabal (with Yogendra Oake as co-writer), the grip is not so much on the killings as on the curiously structured screenplay. The scenes of crime are re-enacted. And then, interviews filmed by an independent journalist and filmmaker (Edward Sonnenblick) are interspersed with the crime scenes for a variety of perspectives. The interviewees include the investigating officers, the minister’s killer-henchman (Deven Bhojani) who has switched sides to work for a rival politician, the parents of the ‘killer’, the murdered young woman’s close friend, the hotel owner where the ‘killer’ and the young woman had checked in for a night, the dead driver’s wife, and in a surprise at the end of an episode, an interview with the ‘killer’ himself. On the run from authorities but available for an interview.
Is the alleged killer’s take on the crimes committed to be taken on board as the truth, bizarre though they are and full of loopholes? Did the politician do an elaborate cover-up and murder to safeguard the family reputation from being socially tainted? Was the politician’s daughter all set for a night of fun with the driver’s son (class and religious differences to be noted even if not emphasised)? Was she a victim or a perpetrator for most of the way? Were the investigating policemen hand in glove with the politician? Is the killer to be believed at any level? Maybe a politician is also an easy target for tarnishing?
The crimes and the interviews reconstruct all the deaths, at least three of them unfortunate collaterals in a larger plot. Without names and without harshly turning the spotlight on any social issues, subtle swipes are made. Typically, the TV medium (with Arnab-like enthusiasm) is manned by vultures, some ready to sell themselves to politicians. The dead driver, a Keralite married to a Maharashtrian, has standard dreams of a sound education in English for his 5-year-old daughter. Henchmen are ready to squeal after they’ve crossed the floor. Drivers and staff must accept differences as realities. ‘The good girls don’t have fun’ theory may be fondly held on to by families. Honour, nagging wives (the dead cop’s wife calling him to say, don’t eat non-veg or to check where he’s reached), privileged men who boast but vanish when it comes to delivering on promises made…Many such comments walk in and out.
You do wonder at the love and sex conversations by the accused and his girl in ‘killer’ circumstances. But then, do you have to take his word for anything?
The questions linger.
With Mayur More, Tigmanshu Dhulia and a credible acting cast around, it is Pushkar Sunil Mahabal’s work that stands out, justifying the title with a clever screenplay.
There are moments that drag making you wish Pushkar had wound it up in four episodes. But four out of six isn’t a bad score.
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills, Watch Or Not?: Catch it for the writer-director’s refreshing way of telling a story.
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Score Rating: 3 out of 5 (i.e. 3/5)
Black, White & Gray – Love Kills Official Trailer:
Credits: Sony LIV
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