Dharavi Bank is an Indian crime drama streaming television series by director Samit Kakkad and actors Suniel Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Sonali Kulkarni and Samikssha Batnagar. The series is Suniel Shetty's OTT debut.
Cast
Cast list credited from original show
Suniel Shetty as Thalaivan
Vivek Oberoi as Jayant Gavaskar
Samiksha Bhatnagar as Irawati “Ira” Gavaskar, Jayant's wife
Anngad Raaj as Vinayak "Veenu" Gavaskar, JCP Jayant Gavaskar and Irawati's son
Sonali Kulkarni as Janvi Surve
Siddharth Menon as Veerbhadra
Vamsi Krishna as Shiva
Shantipriya as Bonamma
Freddy Daruwala as Mahesh
Luke Kenny as Michael
Bhavana Rao as Deepa,Thalaivan's daughter
Nagesh Bhosle as Ghanshyam Mhatre
Hitesh Bhojraj as undercover police sharpshooter
Rohit Pathak as Rajan, Thalaivan's son-in-law
Jaywant Wadkar as Franchis
Chinmay Mandlekar as Daji Malusare
Krishnakant Singh Bundela as Muslim Vodoo Man
Plot
The series narrates the rise of Thalaivan (Sunil Shetty) as the most influential person of Dharavi as well as the Godman of many politicians. For political benefit the Chief Minister Janvi Surve (Sonali Kulkarni) calls JCP Jayant Gavaskar (Vivek Oberoi) and orders to kill Thalaivan. Gavaskar takes the order both personal (as Thalaivan killed his child) vengeance and professional assignment. The conflict between Gavaskar's Mumbai police and Thalaivan's gang starts, but some political turns save Thalaivan.
Filming
The series has been shot in the constricted lanes of Dharavi, India’s largest slum.
Release
Dharavi Bank Session 1 streaming started on MX Player from November 19, 2022.
Episodes
Reception
Dharavi Bank Season 1 received both positive and negative reviews. Saibal Chatterjee for NDTV gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Dharavi Bank sorely lacks the sort of narrative reserves that can fuel a compelling thriller." Abhimanyu Mathur for Hindustan Times wrote "Dharavi Bank will appeal to some, the ones who like the old-fashioned gangster dramas with over-the-top action. But the show is too old-fashioned and not in a classic way." Archika Khurana for The Times of India gave 3/5 rating and wrote "Suniel Shetty outshines everyone in his OTT debut as the brutal and vivacious gang lord of Dharavi. Right from his serious gaze to the protectiveness of his family and his wearing of the crisp white Mundu, Anna proves to be a perfect fit for the role of Thalavian."
Manik Sharma for Firstpost wrote "The plotline, as a whole, moves with the steady but ultimately predictable pace of a Gangster v Police war where betrayals, rats and spies abound." Shipra Darmwal of LeisureByte concurred, stating that the "twists are predictable" and furthermore the series "does not offer anything new".