India is seeing an aggressive campaign on organ donation. Nearly 500,000 people will die in a year for lack of organ donations. The new Amazon Original, Breathe, makes this sensitive and emotional topic the subject of its new thriller that premiered this month on Amazon, worldwide.
The new Series Breathe Amazon Prime Original comes on the back of another earlier series Lakhon Me Ek that premiered on Amazon Prime India last year. That series was based on a teenager pushed into performing at level beyond his abilities and made to stay in a hostile environment by aspiring parents.
That too was a topic that rung true with many families and parents in India who want their child to succeed at all costs, without taking children’s wishes into consideration. With Breathe, the 8-episode psychological thriller, Amazon is making big strides in the online video market in India.
The network made its entry playing it safe with a thriller set in the cricketing world. However, it failed to generate the fan following it hoped. With the next two, we are now seeing Amazon taking up interesting topics that the traditional networks give a slip.
We can only hope that Amazon continues to experiment with new and fresh stories and fill the much required gap in the Indian TV scene. But the most important question is that can Breathe engage you and give you the entertainment you want. Is it engaging enough? Here’s what the series is about.
Breathe Story
Breathe follows Danny Mascarenhas, a simple, middle class father who is praying for his son’s life who is facing a terminal medical condition. On the other hand, we see a troubled Mumbai Crime Branch inspector Kabir Sawant who is not really everyone’s favorite, but gets work done.
When a string of seemingly unconnected murders make headlines in Mumbai and scare people into staying in the safety of their homes, Kabir is handed over the case by his superiors. Random killings continue to make headlines and a possibility of a serial killer on the loose becomes the primary theory for the police.
As Kabir begins to sift the files of victims with a tooth comb, a new reality emerges and points to all the victims being organ donors. With further investigation, Danny emerges to be the prime suspect. His current situation fits the motive behind the killings perfectly. But his profile of a loving family man and a soccer coach does not gel with the image of psycho killer.
Will Danny go to extreme lengths and slaughter potential organ donors to keep his dying son alive? Or is their someone else who is hidden in plain sight behind the string of murders? Kabir will not stop until he finds the truth.
Breathe Review
The latest Amazon original from India ups the game considerably in the online series market. VB and Balaji are Amazon’s closest competitors in India and are also exploring new ideas. However, Breathe scores over these two on multiple points.
One of the things that I have liked about all Amazon originals are the production values of these new shows. It is very rare to see this level of sophistication on Indian TV shows and this makes Breathe all the more attractive. And to keep you engaged, the show also has a great title and background score.
The show also boasts of a stellar cast and Madhavan and Amit Sadh are the perfect nemesis in the plot. Both the actors have a strong screen presence and their characters have a lot of depth. The actors show a range of emotions as they go through various phases. This is a big plus when it comes to Indian TV shows where most emotions are communicated with making eyes bigger, loud background music, and some PowerPoint style animation effects. The dialogues too are believable and not over-the-top as seen in most Hindi movies and TV shows.
In the early episodes, we see these two working on opposite paths that are destined to cross at some time. However, we also get to see that these two characters are bound by their love for family. Both fathers immersed in regret and helplessness about not being able to save their children.
Breathe manages to hook its viewers from the first scene where we see a young girl recording her suicide on a phone. But it is also apparent that it is not a suicide and that she expected someone to get her out of the situation, when we see a shadow leaving the location. We are then taken back four months to show what has lead to this horrific crime.
For a thriller, the show takes a bit too long in character development, however it uses this to communicate the gravity of the situation and to show the desperation of a father preparing and weighing his options. The writers have worked hard to make sure that there are no plot holes and every possible angle is covered with no thread left hanging.
With an important subject at its core, and a script that is built on choice between morality and love, Amazon original Breathe gives TV lovers a number of reasons to ditch that TV remote and fire up their Amazon Fire Stick or power on their Smart screens for some entertaining and engaging drama.
Losing a loved one is never easy. But the bond between a parent and a child is like beyond any other in their lives. Watching a young child denied the gift of life is extremely painful. And when you know that the child could live only if more people decided to donate their organs, the solution seems within reach. Why would you not donate your organs if you could? If they can save other lives? As frustrating as this is, will you choose the path of violence to save the person you love. Can killing a 70 year old justify saving a 7 year old? Do you think organ donation be made compulsory as in France?
Tell us what you think about the new Amazon Original from India, Breathe!
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