Tandav is an Indian political thriller television series on Amazon Prime Video, created, directed and produced by Ali Abbas Zafar, in his digital debut, with the script being written by Gaurav Solanki.
[3][4] The series has an ensemble cast featuring Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Dino Morea and Anup Soni.
The series has cinematography handled by Karol Stadnik and edited by Steven H. Bernard; the background score is composed by Julius Packiam.
[7] The charismatic leader of a premiere political party known as Janata Lok Dal (JLD), Samar Pratap Singh (Saif Ali Khan) feels he's ready to inherit the chair of PM but Samar's father, the party patriarch and the PM, Devki Nandan Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), isn't willing to retire yet.
A parallel story is that of the idealistic campus activist Shiva Shekhar (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) who becomes an overnight icon as he shines at a political event.
Tandav is the coming together of a series of manipulations that exposes layers of human greed, ambition, love, vulnerability, and violence.
Vijay Subramaniam, head of content for Amazon Prime Video India, announced six Indian originals, at the Television Critics Association's press tour held in California in February 2019, which also included Ali Abbas Zafar's debut streaming series as well.
[8] It is touted to be a political drama film which explores "the dark corners of Indian politics, where powerful politicians, and those who aspire to be, sow chaos and manipulate others to control the country, ruthless pragmatism contrasts with the frustrations and aspirations of contemporary India and the ideals of the country's youth".
Zafar eventually sent a rough one-page draft to which he discussed with Amazon Prime Video before Solanki expanded it into a full-fledged series.
Zafar initially planned to bring in big names for the cast, as Saif Ali Khan eventually accepted to play the lead protagonist, Samar Pratap Singh.
"[12] Dimple Kapadia plays the parallel lead role of Anuradha Kishore, who competes against Samar to become the prime minister.
[16] The series also features an adapted song of "Dhakka Laga Bukka", composed by A. R. Rahman, from the Mani Ratnam-directorial Yuva (2004).
[28] Writing for The Hindu, Sayan Ghosh called "The series is riddled with cliched tropes and larger-than-life figures, that only provides a glimpse at the project's lost potential".
[29] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the series two out of five stars, writing "Tandav dances to a typically facile Bollywood beat.
"[31] Rohit Vats of News18 gave two out of five stating "The show may pick up in later episodes but first five display all the trappings of a ‘masala’ Bollywood production with absolutely nothing to ponder about once it's over.
About how these invisible characters who are actually running the political show conspire to make or break governments with their polity, wit and intelligence.