'Tabbar' tries to go the 'Drishyam' route but is only half-successful

Sony LIV is back with what seemed to be a very promising web series in the form of Tabbar. If the trailer of the show did not intrigue you enough, the actors involved in the setting would be the perfect attraction to coax you to watch the show.

Having seen all the episodes, here's what I think are the good and not-so-good factors thus giving my verdict for the same-

The Plot

What seems to be a normal life for a middle-class family led by Omkar (Pavan Malhotra) and Sargun (Supriya Pathak) turns out to be a hellish nightmare nobody saw coming. While celebrating their son, Happy's (Gagan Arora) great performance in a mock test for the IPS, the family couldn't foresee a situation which leads to a massacre with more and more deaths coming in. For Omkar, all that matters is family and taking care of them but what at what cost - that is what Tabbar (which means husband, wife and children in Punjabi) is all about.

The Good

The best part about Tabbar is an amalgamation of two of the most important aspects of the visual aspect of any motion picture or web show - acting performances and cinematography. Especially with the latter. Every sequence is shot beautifully and the lights used to match the mood of the scenes is brilliant. Be it a sepia-ish tone for the home sequences and ones involving tension and suspense; or be it an overcast tone for the more mellow and emotional scenes - the cinematography keeps the show hanging in there.

And with such a stellar cast roped in, you can hardly go wrong. Stalwart actors like Pavan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Ranvir Shorey play lead roles and none of them disappoint. Even with some absolutely bizarre scenes, Pathak and Malhotra do a fine job in convincing you as a viewer to buy it. The newer actors like Gagan Arora and Sahil Mehta also do well with their characters and manage to match as much with their senior counterparts.

Apart from them, special applause for the concept and some scenes. The idea is brilliant and tailor-made to knit a thriller and to quite an extent, Tabbar does that as well. Some scenes are well constructed to keep you hooked on as a viewer and make sure your attention is not diverted.

The Not-So-Good

The one factor where Tabbar falters the most has to be - using standard tropes. We have seen an array of thrillers come and go and there are some standard tropes many follow thus making that part uninteresting. A dangerous politician who loves his spoilt brother to death, a simple and unassuming man who everybody loves and nobody can doubt upon, a weird and mad guard etc. All this is prevalent in Tabbar as well and you can almost instantly predict what is gonna happen next - which is not good for a thriller.

One of the biggest flaws for Tabbar has to be the fact that it goes the Drishyam route or atleast is very reminiscent of the same. The lead character of Omkar is very much like Geoege Kutty/Vijay Salgoankar in many ways. Simple, loved, unassuming but suddenly adapting to the dirty game so well that he manages to trump even the big guns. The only difference is that with the Drishyam character, there was an explanation as to how is it that the leading man is so smart and pre-empts everything. That doesn't happen with Omkar, as he just somehow manages to adapt well enough and becomes the reason for some really gruesome circumstances.

The Verdict

Overall, the good part about Tabbar is that it is thoroughly watchable and manages to keep you hooked enough to see what is gonna happen next and even wonder if your prediction is gonna be correct. But the bad part about Tabbar is that most of those prediction will be right and you will start losing interest and be reminiscent of several thrillers from the earlier presentations.

Rating *** (3/5)