The Fame Game: Evergreen Madhuri the saving grace

The Fame Game

Hindi (Netflix)

Directors: Bejoy Nambiar and Karishma Kohli

Cast: Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Kapoor, Manav Kaul

Rating: 2.5/5

Madhuri Dixit comes with her own backlighting. She is as luminous on the screen as she was in the 90s — her smile still lights up the frame, never mind the scene, despite the fine lines around her mouth that makeup can't hide. But even her radiance cannot camouflage the convoluted plot of Fame Game.

It starts off brightly enough with a superstar actress envied and admired for her fame and 'perfect family' disappearing one night just like that. Poof. Predictably, the screenplay then travels back and forth to unravel the grime behind the fame and the games that are played under the cover of glamour.

Or at least that's what the intention undoubtedly was. And what an illuminating story it would have been if this goal had been followed through — for not many attempts have been made to scratch beneath the surface of the Bollywood sheen. But Fame Game is so caught up in Joharesque (Karan Johar being one of the producers) tropes that it tumbles over itself like a ball of wool when it begins to unsnarl from its many twists. The series wants to be a thriller, a feminist shout-out, a faux-progressive statement as well as a potboiler but succeeds only in being a mish-mash of all these, leaving the viewer anticipating and frustrated at the same time.

There's only that much one can do with a script as flawed as this one and if the audience actually persists till eighth episode, as I did, it will be only due to the credible performances. Gagan Arora as the typical stalker — soft-spoken, ruthless, kind and deranged — is a real find. Manav Kaul as the angsty lover boy-hero shines despite being so terribly shortchanged in the writing. The kids, played by Lakshvir Saran and Muskkaan Jaferi, are competent enough but veteran performers like Suhasini Mulay and Makarand Deshpande have nothing much to do. Sadly, this is a game that had skilled players but muddled rules — so everyone lost.