Glory
Creators: Karmanya Ahuja, Karan Anshuman
Cast: Divyenndu, Pulkit Samrat, Suvinder Vicky, Sayani Gupta, Ashutosh Rana, Sikandar Kher, Yashpal Sharma, Kashmira Pardeshi, Jannat Zubair
Rating: ★★
Would it be too big an indictment if I say that Glory exemplifies everything that is wrong with the Indian streaming space? The show, based on a promising premise, squanders its potential, resorts to tired tropes, leaves gaping plot holes the size of Alaska, and fails to fully utilise the brilliance of its performers. Glory is not a horrible show. There have been several worse this year alone. But it is a frustrating one that wastes a good setting, great actors, and some crisp writing at the altar of slickness and being larger-than-life. In the end, Glory reduces itself to a run-of-the-mill Indian streaming show, the kind of which exists a dime a dozen in the ever-so-crowded OTT space.
What is Glory about
Set in the fictitious Shaktigarh, the boxing capital of India, Glory sees two brothers – Dev and Ravi (Divyenndu and Pulkit Samrat) return to their estranged father after their sister is murdered. Along with her was killed Olympic hopeful boxer Nihal Singh, being coached by their father (Suvinder Vicky). The suspects are many – from a rival boxing club head to the khap panchayat, and even local ruffians. But as the police are eager to shut the case quickly, the brothers realise they must extend their stay in their hometown and solve the crime themselves.
An all-too-familiar slugfest
Glory begins as something rather different. A whodunnit set in the world of sports, almost as if the co-creator Karan Anshuman was blending the two genres he had experimented with earlier. You can trust the maker of Inside Edge and Mirzapur to make a murder mystery set in a small town littered with boxing academies. The world-building is smart. Shaktigarh comes alive in front of your eyes as a clever amalgamation of Bhiwani and Rohtak. And the detailing is spot on for that part of the country, right down to the two brothers driving a modified Mitsubishi Lancer, the OG aspirational car of the Millennial tough guys.
But it does not take long for the show to go off the rails. Like a boxer leaving his guard open, Glory begins taking body blows not long into its runtime. The show uses every trope that crime dramas on Indian streaming shows have used over the past decade, blunting the newness of the setting with sigh-inducing mediocrity in execution.
But the cardinal sin that Glory commits as a crime thriller is that it is predictable. Anyone who has watched or read enough of these can figure out who the killer is and what the motivation is behind it all before the credits for episode 1 begin rolling. That alone is enough to turn one away from the series.
Good performances, wasted
What rankles the most about Glory is not how it misses out on utilising the premise, but that it wastes some fine actors giving their best. Suvinder Vicky delivers yet another masterful performance as the enigmatic Coach Sahab, commanding the screen when he is on it, and lording over everyone. Yet, his role is reduced to a two-dimensional obsession. Divyenndu channels his inner Animal in a way that is markedly different from Munna Tripathi of Mirzapur. Both animals have diversity, showcasing the actor’s range. Even Pulkit Samrat holds his own, bringing equal amounts of swagger and heart in one of his best performances yet. And somehow, the three leads being in top form is not a cherry on top but the show’s saving grace. The narrative is so pedestrian that the acting cannot fully save it.
Jannat Zubair and Kashmira Pardeshi deserve mention for their performances as well. Jannat, once a staple on television as a child artist, makes a comeback of sorts to acting with the show and serves a reminder that she is not rusty at all. Kashmira plays a difficult role well, bringing out a beautiful mix of vulnerability and sensuality rarely done right in Indian streaming.
Glory is a good example of ‘what could have been’, which has been the story of Indian OTT since the pandemic. Ever since the medium saw a boom in India, makers have sacrificed quality over panache. Glory continues on that path. And then it gives one of the most annoying conclusions in Indian streaming in recent times.
Before I sign off, a personal rant to makers of shows across India. You did the smartest thing by borrowing the season structure from American television, allowing long-form content to have pauses and breaks. But you continue making the mistake of retrofitting it in the Indian style of storytelling. A season ceases to be a well-rounded piece of storytelling when it ends on a cliffhanger with not even lose thread tied up. It seems commerce trumps storytelling more often than not today.