There was a time when vacations meant travelling to the ‘native place,’ and a scramble for training tickets ensued. And, we know in jugaadu India, where there is a demand, there is a tout. They could manage confirmed tickets for a fee, when the official channels said Waitlist or the slightly more hopeful Reservation Against Cancellation.
The series, Waiting Hai (on Amazon MX Player), directed by Sameer Vidwans, goes beyond that nostalgia, into how organised crime gets into everything. The plot set in Patna, follows newbie railway police constable, Sugam Mishra (Divyenndu), just married to Princy (Harshita Gaur). At home, he is refreeing squabbles between her and his demanding mother (Sunita Rajwar); at work a crabby boss (Dayashankar Pandey) forces him to check on cleanliness in the train toilets.
Running parallel is the track of Afroze Hamza (Bhuvan Arora), a loser in all aspects, except computers. He is a hacking wiz, and figures out a way to get into the railway Tatkaal servers, and book confirmed tickets.
His hustler uncle Faizal (Vijay Maurya) sees business potential there and brings on board local gangster Bhoora (Yashpal Sharma). In spite of Bhoora skimming off the profits, Afroze and Faizal make a lot of money, as do ticketing agents, since passengers are willing to pay a premium for confirmed tickets.
Sugam gets wind of the scam and starts investigating, while Afroze, unwillingly gets deeper into the mire, with a Dubai don as well as higher up in the railways (Naved Aslam) demand he expand the business and give them a share of the pie.
Since the crime part of it runs out after a point, the show branches into the lonely life of Sugam’s senior (Kumud Mishra), his gentle romance with his wife, and Faizal’s shenanigans.
There is needless vulgarity, and the language full of profanity, but the actors manage to pull it along. Divyenndu can do no wrong after his star turn in Mirzapur, and he brings the required gravitas to his performance. Bhuvan Arora sheds his actor’s vanity to look ugly, with a big mole on his nose and a slight hunch. Vijay Maurya has fun with his chameleon-like part.
The idea of the show is more interesting than the execution, but if there’s nothing else to watch, it may be worth a try.
Waiting Hai
Directed by Sameer Vidwans
Cast: Divyenndu, Bhuvan Arora, Harshita Gaur and others
On Amazon MX Player
Directed by Sameer Vidwans
Cast: Divyenndu, Bhuvan Arora, Harshita Gaur and others
On Amazon MX Player