Bengali crime drama series have become popularly demanding in recent times on OTT platforms. After the success of Mohanagar, Hoichoi released another crime drama series that took the country by storm, Kaiser.
This show follows homicide police detective Kaiser Chowdhury who gets involved in the investigation of a grizzly double murder at the heart of Dhaka and the subsequent political pull of strings to hinder his work.
Kaiser is an ADC in Dhaka Metropolitan Police who mainly investigates homicide cases. He may have hematophobia but is a darn good detective when it comes to analyzing bloody crime scenes.
He is a brilliant detective but in terms of personal relationships, he's pretty much a failure. His childhood sweetheart turned wife divorced him and married his childhood friend.
He's also an avid gamer, often seen addicted to playing video games as well as taking help from the games to solve murder cases, although the process is not quite clear. All these make Kaiser Chowdhury a pretty complex character, and Afran Nisho portrays him perfectly.
This series centres around the double murder of Saba and Joya and Kaiser is tasked with the investigation of it. He gains progress in this case but faces hurdles from a powerful set of villains. With personal demons haunting him even before, this case surely becomes a challenge for him.
The villains conspire together to keep the crime under the rug. Among them, Barrister and Bacchu steal the show as the proper villains.
It's a breath of fresh air to watch Shatabdi Wadud portray a villainous character rather than the regular police characters and he pulls off the role of Bacchu well. Imtiaz Barshon played the mysterious and level-headed villain Barrister which is surely praiseworthy. Some insight into Barrister's backstory would be quite interesting to watch in this series if shown.
Kaiser is not only about solving the murder case but also about exploring the lives of some characters, most notably the lead protagonist Kaiser. His personal life intertwines with his investigation. His childhood friends working together to get to the bottom of the murder despite all of them from different professions is another fascinating story. Can they finally solve this case? This nine-episode long series has the answer.
The acting of Afran Nisho is superb till the end. He is like water, fitting into any lead character in any drama perfectly.
The intro of Kaiser is a footage compilation of the urban life of Dhaka during the 1980-90s along with Nightdriver by Indie rock band Eida playing in the background - a nostalgia to experience.
Tanim Noor directed an amazing crime drama taking inspiration from the Nordic Noir genre, which can be the start of a new wave of crime genre series in Bangladesh. With hints of a second season, the audience may get to see Kaiser Chowdhury in action once more.
