Khalbali Records Star Cast/ Actors: Ram Kapoor as Mavendra Rai Singh alias MRS, Prabh Deep as Mauj, Skand Sanjeev Thakur as Raghav Rai Singh, Saloni Batra as Ananya Rai Singh, Sanghmitra Hitaishi as Monali & More
Khalbali Records Director: Devanshu Singh
Khalbali Records Release Date: September 12, 2024
Khalbali Records Available On: Jio Cinema Platform
Khalbali Records Released/ Available In Languages: Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali & Tamil
Khalbali Records Number Of Episodes: 8
Khalbali Records Episode Duration: 38 minutes (Approx or More, Each Episode)
Khalbali Records Critic Review:
A rapper is shot mid-concert.
It triggers the flashpoint between high-flying Manvendra Rai Singh alias MRS (Ram Kapoor) of Galaxy, the big music label, and his rooted son Raghav (Skand Thakur) who storms off to start a rival company, Khalbali.
Mauj (Punjabi rapper Prabh Deep), the assassinated singer, was the poster boy of indie integrity.
Manvendra is the mainstream opposite.
An interesting face-off.
But, despite half-a-dozen names in the writing department, showrunner and director Devanshu Singh succumbs to the fatigue of sharply drawn lines between good and bad.
Commercial – symbolised by the suited-booted owner of Galaxy – is wicked, insensitive, draws up crafty contracts, his POSH committee is an eyewash, he uses and discards artistes, drives his wife to depression, packs off son Raghav and daughter Ananya (Saloni Batra) to boarding school, has an extra-marital relationship, has the media and the police at his beck and call. You’d think he didn’t run a company,he ran a whole country.
Indie– symbolised by Mauj, Raghav and struggling rappers on the streets of Delhi –stands for integrity, purity, vulnerability, morality and artistic honesty.
With dad trying every trick in the book to bring down son’s label and every episode beginning with a mandatory flashback to Mauj’s interrupted dream that Raghav will fulfil, the unadulterated villainy versus virtuous integrity is repetitive. The exaggerated contrast between Manvendra and Raghav with Ananya in between (she vacillates between dad’s ruthlessness and Raghav’s goodness and swings the other way sexually too) is tiresome. Must artistic purity and commercial success be so mutually exclusive?
However, Amit Trivedi’s rap-packed music will have its fans and there will be a section that backs the thought that true art must be disruptive.
The problem with Devanshu’s show is that it is not as engaging as some of the recent music-based shows and movies have been.
Don’t look for the intrigue of the Daljit Dosanjh film Amar Singh Chamkila.
Don’t look for the musical intensity and depth of Bandish Bandits.
Don’t look for the soundtrack and storytelling of Gully Boy.
A deep dive into the music industry is an interesting exercise. But there is a flatness in the narration with the animation restricted to farcical TV debates on Galaxy and Khalbali.
With too many characters packed in, all performances, including guest appearances by musicians like Palash Sen and Rekha Bhardwaj for a touch of authenticity, are passable while Skand Thakur has sincerity and screen presence.
Khalbali Records – Watch Or Not?: Except for ardent rap fans, it’s unlikely to strike a chord with a larger audience.
Khalbali Records Review Score Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (i.e. 2.5/5)
Khalbali Records Official Trailer:
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