Hunkkaar The Roar Review:
Some web series take a little time to get going. Hunkkaar: The Roar is not really one of them. It puts its central conflict in front of you quite quickly and then asks a pretty uncomfortable question — what happens when an ordinary girl takes on a powerful spiritual leader with thousands of followers behind him?
The six-episode JioHotstar series revolves around 17-year-old Meenu Rawat (Aneet Padda), who accuses popular spiritual leader Sunil “Baapji” Chakosi (Raghubir Yadav) of sexual assault. What starts as a police complaint soon becomes much bigger, bringing in the police, lawyers, media, family pressure and, of course, Baapji’s huge influence.
The interesting thing here is that Hunkkaar isn’t simply trying to make Baapji the typical evil godman and finish the story there. It spends time showing how influence works. People believe him, defend him and sometimes even refuse to question him. That makes Meenu’s fight feel much bigger than just a courtroom battle.
Aneet Padda is the heart of the series. Her performance as Meenu is probably the biggest reason to stay with the show. She doesn’t play her as a constantly crying or helpless victim. Meenu is scared, angry, confused and sometimes surprisingly defiant. Those little changes make the character feel like an actual person rather than just a plot device.
Fatima Sana Shaikh is equally good as ACP Jasleen Singh Soin. Her character enters the case with a fairly straightforward police approach, but gradually realises how complicated the situation is. I liked that Fatima doesn’t make Jasleen into some larger-than-life supercop. There’s a restraint to the performance, and it works.
Raghubir Yadav brings an unsettling quality to Baapji. He doesn’t need to shout in every scene to show the character’s power. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Arjun Mathur, Ram Kapoor and the rest of the supporting cast add weight to the courtroom and investigation portions.
The courtroom scenes are actually where the series becomes more engaging. The show raises questions about consent, victim-shaming, evidence and the way society judges a survivor based on how she behaves. Some of these scenes hit hard, while a few others feel like the writers are explaining the message a little too directly.
And that is probably the biggest issue with Hunkkaar.
The premise is strong, but the writing isn’t equally sharp throughout. The series has several interesting threads — the investigation, Baapji’s followers, the media, the administration, the family dynamics and the courtroom battle. But at times it tries to handle too many of them together. Just when one track starts getting interesting, the show jumps somewhere else.
There are also portions where the story feels familiar. We have seen several Indian films and series dealing with powerful godmen, blind faith and sexual abuse. Hunkkaar doesn’t completely reinvent that territory. What makes it work is the way it puts a young survivor at the centre and shows the pressure that comes from simply speaking up.
The pacing is another mixed bag. The early episodes have a good amount of tension, and the courtroom portions pick things up again. But there are stretches where the six-episode format feels a little stretched.
Still, this is not a series that you watch only for twists. Its real strength is the uncomfortable situation it creates. Meenu’s fight is not just against one powerful person. It is against the people and systems that make questioning that person so difficult.
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Visually, the series keeps things grounded rather than going for an overly glossy OTT look. The small-town setting also adds to the atmosphere. But ultimately, the performances are what hold everything together.
Aneet Padda gets some of the strongest material and makes the most of it. Fatima Sana Shaikh gives the investigation side of the story some maturity, while Raghubir Yadav is effective as the man everyone seems afraid to question.
Hunkkaar: The Roar may not be as consistently gripping as its subject demands, but there is enough here to make it worth a watch. It has a strong central conflict, some very good performances and a few genuinely uncomfortable moments.
The title promises a roar. The series doesn’t always get that loud, but there is definitely something worth listening to underneath it.
Verdict: A serious and watchable courtroom crime thriller that gets its biggest strength from Aneet Padda and Fatima Sana Shaikh, even if the writing occasionally loses focus.
