Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: Aneet Padda & Fatima Sana Shaikh’s Show Never Roars – Turns Merely A Shadow Of Aashram, Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai & Maharaj!
Hunkkaar: The Roar Review: Star Rating:
Cast: Aneet Padda, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Arjun Mathur, Raghubir Yadav, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, and others
Creator: Karan Kapadia
Director: Nitya Mehra & Karan Kapadia
Streaming On: JioHotstar
Language: Hindi
Runtime: 6 episodes of 50 minutes each
Ratings: 3.0
Set in a fictional Madhya Pradesh town, Hunkkaar: The Roar establishes its premise within the first five minutes. Meenu Rawat (Aneet Padda), a 17-year-old girl, arrives at a police station to lodge an FIR against Baap Ji (Raghubir Yadav), a powerful godman who controls the region. Investigating officer Jasleen Singh Soni (Fatima Sana Shaikh) is assigned to the case, sparking a multi-front battle involving faith, public perception, legal hurdles, and institutional corruption. Across six episodes, directors Karan Kapadia and Nitya Mehra chart a young survivor’s harrowing fight for justice.
The show hits its peak during Meenu’s courtroom testimony. Aneet Padda delivers a raw, unguarded performance that gives the character genuine dignity, especially during emotional exchanges detailing her trauma. Fatima Sana Shaikh offers strong support as Jasleen, playing her role with grounded restraint rather than over-the-top heroics. Raghubir Yadav delivers a quietly magnetic and unsettling performance as Baapji, avoiding cartoonish villainy. Among the rest of the ensemble, Ram Kapoor commands his brief screen time, while actors like Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Arjun Mathur, and Zoya Siddiqui are constrained by underwritten roles.
The primary flaw of Hunkkaar is its lack of originality in a genre already well-trodden by projects like Aashram, Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, and Maharaj. Every narrative beat—from weaponized faith and media trials to suppressed evidence—feels overly familiar. The six-episode runtime suffers from pacing issues and unnecessary backstories that fail to add emotional depth. Crucial elements like the courtroom dynamics and public opinion warfare are left largely underexploited.
Ultimately, Hunkkaar possesses noble intentions regarding survivor agency and systemic protection of the powerful, but it fails to distinguish itself. Despite convincing leads and isolated moments of strong writing, the series ends up feeling like a faint shadow of superior crime-drama predecessors rather than the powerful roar its title promises.
