There are two competing TV channels, one that only cares about TRPs and the other that tries to be honest and careful. Reporters who work hard and play even harder. Bollywood’s “Me Too” scandals. Bonds for voting. Politicians who want power. And a secret group that is mining big data and could break the privacy of billions of regular Indians. The movie “The Broken News,” which was directed by Vinay Waikul, seems to be made up of news stories that have been in the news for a while.
But just in case the web series is seen as “too real,” it has a lot of highly dramatic parts that keep it from getting too close to a movie. “The Broken News” feels more like a crime thriller than what it says it will be, which is a look at how TV news is changing the way people talk in the country and how news isn’t just broken on TV, but news TV is broken as well.
Dipankar Sanyal (Jaideep Ahlawat), who is in charge of Josh 24/7, is a very cocky editor and anchor who thinks he runs the country. Does his character remind you of anyone? Amina Qureshi, played by Sonali Bendre Behl, is in charge of Awaaz Bharati. She is able to make hard decisions. Radha Bhargava, played by Shriya Pilgaonkar, is a star reporter who always looks for the truth, even when her personal and professional life are at odds. And then there’s newcomer Anuj Sharma (Taaruk Raina), who doesn’t care about being honest in order to get ahead.
Ahlawat is very convincing and has no trouble getting past writing mistakes. And it’s great that Sonali Bendre is back. In “Guilty Minds,” Shriya Pilgaonkar’s honest reporter is too similar to her lawyer. How about making them different? As we look at how news is made, we see that backstabbing, stealing stories, stormy edit meetings where prima donnas throw tantrums, and yes-men are all part of the game. Some of it is a little bit painful, especially the part about a sleazy Bollywood star (Sharad Kapoor) who has repeatedly abused young girls and who feels the pain when his victims, who have kept quiet for years, accuse him.
But a lot of it isn’t true, especially if you know how the news business works. Reporters with colourful sources at their disposal, brave employees calling out their bosses, and channel owners telling their employees, “I own this channel, so you will do what I say.” Really? One character said to another, “Tum team ki moral compass ho.” Who says these kinds of things? Others are forced to talk about ethics and morals like they’ve never been talked about before. Maybe the team needs to spend some time on a news floor to see how much boring work goes into a 24-hour cycle. It’s not all shouting anchors, cowering guests, and “breaking news.”