Bambai Meri Jaan
GenreCrime thriller
Created byRensil D'Silva
Shujaat Saudagar
Based onDongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia
Written byDialogues:
Abbas Dalal
Hussain Dalal
Screenplay byRensil D' Silva
Sameer Arora
Story byS. Hussain Zaidi
Directed byShujaat Saudagar
Starring
Country of originIndia
Original languageHindi
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Producers
CinematographyJohn Schmidt
EditorTushar Parekh
Running time30-50 minutes
Production companyExcel Entertainment
Original release
NetworkAmazon Prime Video
Release14 September 2023 (2023-09-14)

Bambai Meri Jaan (transl. Bombay My Beloved) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language period crime thriller television series produced under the banner of Excel Entertainment.[1] The series stars Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary, Kritika Kamra, Nivedita Bhattacharya and Amyra Dastur.[2] It was premiered on Amazon Prime Video.[3] [4]

Plot

In 1964 Bombay, Ismail Kadri, an honest police officer from Ratnagiri and a devout family man, is tasked with exposing the criminal nexus between gangsters Suleiman "Haji" Maqbool, Azeem Pathaan, and Anna Rajan Mudaliar. Ismail’s honesty is challenged constantly both personally and professionally. The trio of the aforementioned criminals ruled Bombay in the 1960s. At home, Ismail tries to discipline his younger son, Dara, and faces a crisis that puts his integrity and livelihood at stake. While coming close to exposing contraband being transported by Haji's driver, Sultan, and Ismail's brother-in-law, Rahim, Ismail's fellow police officer and best friend, Ahmed, is brutally killed by Rahim. Ismail not knowing about this, leaves him at the railway station to escape from Haji and his men. He is seen by two constables helping Rahim and is reported to his seniors. He is eventually fired by the police force. As Ismail struggles to make ends meet for his family, the financial strain starts to influence Dara’s worldview.

When Ismail is pushed to the breaking point, Haji tightens his grip and forces Ismail to support him in his illegal activities. Twelve years later, in 1977, the Prime Minister imposes a state of emergency and the Bombay Police arrests the criminal trio, only to be released later on. At the same time, Dara and his company, now around 20 years old, emerges as a skillful and wise street ruffian who provokes the might of the Pathans, first extorting money from the various shopkeepers in their territory, and then burning the akhada, igniting a bloody face-off.

Haji convinces Ismail to bring Dara to the trio in order to convey an apology; Ismail gets surprised when Haji actually offers Dara to work with their gang. Now, Dara and his gang starts working for the Pathans, much to the dismay of Bilawal and Azeem Pathan. During one of the nights, Haji shows his confidence in Dara and advises him to play cool if he wants to rule the city one day.

On a brutal wedding night where Dara's childhood friend Nasir is killed by two Pathan associates and Nasir's wife is brutally raped, Dara seeks revenge and ignites a deadly turf war against Haji and the Pathans by slaying the murderers. Haji chides Pathan and the rest of the gang for the murders and brings for Dara and his family to take an oath by placing their hands on the Holy Quran, promising to do business together by giving Dara 1/4 share of their contraband. Very soon, Dara recognizes an opportunity to move up in the business thanks to a newly forged alliance with two leading Dubai Sheikhs. This marks the birth of D-Company. The newly formed outfit innovates new ideas of smuggling gold via the Bombay Airport and succeeds. Finally, Dara starts to live a lavish lifestyle, attending parties in Dubai and investing money in various construction projects with the Sheikhs.

As Dara's empire expand, family tensions rise and a revengeful Pathan plans to bring him down. D Company is under attack; Dara suffers a deadly personal blow when Sadiq and his lover are killed by one Ganya Surve, hired by the Pathans. With tensions escalating between the two gangs, Haji confirms with Dara that he was not behind Sadiq's death although giving him names of the real perpetrators. The body counts rise and the stakes get higher. Dara enlists a fearless hitman Chhota Babban who eventually enters the Bombay Sessions Court and shoots Raiszada while the latter was in custody, creating a chaotic situation in the Court.

Dara ruthlessly pushes on to decimate Pathan and Anna in an end game. Anna is killed on his own turf. Pathan is also killed by Dara's gang in a hotel room after the former undertook an unsuccessful attack on Dara's family in a hospital. An all-out gang war ensues in Bombay and the state government imposes a curfew in the city as the police too cross fired on the gangsters.

Finally, to escape arrest, Dara leaves for Dubai but not before encountering Haji on the way where the latter tells him that he has indeed become Bambai ka baadshah to which Dara responds that he always wanted to be like Haji. Dara leaves his family behind under the care of his sister Habiba who later arranges for the killing of the last surviving Pathan, Haroon, in Gujarat.

Cast

  • Kay Kay Menon as Ismail Kadri, Dara's father (based on Ibrahim Kaskar)
  • Tauqeer Alam Khan as Ahmed Ansari (Ismail's colleague and friend)
  • Prince Kanwal as IAS Arvind Kaul
  • Avinash Tiwary as Dara Kadri, Ismail's son (based on Dawood Ibrahim)
  • Manthan Darji as Young Dara
  • Kritika Kamra as Habiba Kadri (based on Haseena Parkar)
  • Nivedita Bhattacharya as Sakina Kadri (based on Amina Bi Kaskar), Ismail's wife
  • Mohammed Khaliq as Maulavi Sahab
  • Ashwani Kumar as Nasir Edenwala, Dara’s best friend (based on Iqbal Natiq)
  • Pratyaksh Mishra as Young Nasir
  • Aayushi Lahiri as Nasreen (Nasir's wife)
  • Karmveer Choudhary as Home Minister
  • Amyra Dastur as Pari Patel, Dara's love interest (based on Sujata Kaur)
  • Saurabh Sachdeva as Suleiman "Haji" Maqbool (based on Haji Mastan)
  • Syed Muddasar Ali as Young Haji
  • Nawab Shah as Azeem Pathaan (based on Karim Lala)
  • Saksham Shukla as Hamid (Bilawal's nephew)
  • Dinesh Prabhakar as Anna Rajan Mudaliar (based on Varadarajan Mudaliar)
  • Jitin Gulati as Sadiq Kadri (based on Saabir Ibrahim)
  • Divyani Gandhi as Kainaaz (Sadiq's wife)
  • Vivan Bhathena as Abdullah (based on Khalid Pehelwan)
  • Shiv Panditt as Inspector Ranbir Malik (potentially based on Isaque Bagwan)
  • Kannar Arunachalam as Police Commissioner Kamath (based on D.S Soman)
  • Kundan Roy as Inspector Dutta
  • Sumeet Vyas as Ganya Surve (based on Manya Surve)
  • Hemant Choudhary as Nasir’s father
  • Lakshya Kochhar as Ajju Kadri (based on Anees Ibrahim)
  • Atharva Sharma as Young Ajju
  • Sunil Palwal as Bilawal
  • Jai Singh Rajput as Sultan
  • Aditya Rawal as Chota Babban (based on Chhota Rajan)
  • Tanaya Khan Jha as Chitra
  • Kamaljeet Rana as Haroon

Production

Cast

Initially Angira Dhar were approached to play the female lead.[5] Later Kritika Kamra[6] and Amyra Dastur[7] along with Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary and Nivedita Bhattacharya joined the cast.[8][9]

Development

In August 2023, the series was announced by Excel Entertainment, consisting of ten episodes for Amazon Prime Video.[10] It is based on S. Hussain Zaidi's Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia (2021).[11] Initially titled "Dongri To Dubai", later changed and launched with the title "Bambai Meri Jaan".[12] The principal photography of the series commenced during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Bollywood Hungama[15]
DNA[16]
Firstpost[17]
The Indian Express[18]NA
India Today[19]
Moneycontrol.com[20]NA
NDTV[21]
News18[22]
OTT Play[23]
Pinkvilla[24]NA
Rediff[25]
Scroll.in[26]NA
The Telegraph[27]NA
Times Now[28]
The Hindu[29]NA
The Times of India[30]
WION[31]NA

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan: Avinash Tiwary and Kay Kay Menon bring the classic battle of good vs. Evil to the Prime Video series".
  2. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan: Mumbai has a new king in Kay Kay Menon's new crime drama, Farhan Akhtar shares glimpse". 28 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "'Bambai Meri Jaan' gets premiere date on Prime Video". The Hindu. 28 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan' Cast and Crew Talk Prime Video Show's 'Emotional Journey' at Global Premiere: It 'Transcends All Barriers of Language and Nationality'". Variety. 13 September 2023.
  5. ↑ "Dongri to Dubai: Dawood finds Haseena at eleventh hour". 30 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Kritika Kamra to star in the web series Dongri to Dubai - EasternEye". 30 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Amyra Dastur joins cast of web series 'Dongri to Dubai', that traces life of Dawood Ibrahim". The Hindu. 21 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary to star in Bambai Meri Jaan". Cinema Express.
  9. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan: Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary, Kritika Kamra to Star in Crime-Thriller".
  10. ↑ "Farhan Akhtar Production 'Bambai Meri Jaan' Sets Prime Video Date (EXCLUSIVE)". 28 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Excel Swims in Streaming Deals". 27 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "From Majnu to Dawood".
  13. ↑ "Hello Charlie, Dongri to Dubai become first Bollywood films to resume shoot". 24 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "'Bambai Meri Jaan' director Shujaat Saudgar: The underworld is an exciting theme". Mid-day. 24 August 2023.
  15. ↑ "Web Series Review: Bambai Meri Jaan : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 14 September 2023.
  16. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan review: Even Kay Kay Menon's tour de force fails to save this 'old wine in new bottle' gangster drama".
  17. ↑ "Kay Kay Menon & Avinash Tiwary's Bambai Meri Jaan Review | Amazon Prime Video". Firstpost. 14 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan review: This retelling of Dawood story has few moments of novelty". 15 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary excel in gangster drama".
  20. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan review: Familiar tale about Mumbai Underworld yields great performances but little else". 15 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Review: The Actors Save the Day in Sporadically Gripping Underworld History".
  22. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Kay Kay Menon Steals the Show with His Great Performance". 14 September 2023.
  23. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan: Avinash Tiwary's drama is like an old wine in a new bottle".
  24. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Episode 1 and 2 Review: Kay Kay Menon's gangster saga shows great promise with a solid start". 14 September 2023.
  25. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Gansgter Gush".
  26. ↑ "'Bambai Meri Jaan' review: Hello (Yet) again, Dawood Ibrahim". 14 September 2023.
  27. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan review".
  28. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Review: Kay Kay Menon's Honest Fight Against Mumbai Mafia Marred by Sluggish Pace".
  29. ↑ Kumar, Anuj (15 September 2023). "'Bambai Meri Jaan' series review: An uneasy take on Mumbai mafia that blurs the line between the good and the evil". The Hindu.
  30. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan Season 1 Review : Kay Kay Menon and Avinash Tiwary's gangster drama is riveting but occasionally drags". The Times of India.
  31. ↑ "Bambai Meri Jaan review: Kay Kay Menon is stellar in a familiar underworld tale".
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