Pill REVIEW: Riteish Deshmukh’s OTT debut is a slow-paced medical drama that exposes the dark side of Indian Pharma at snail’s pace

Film:
Pill

Directors: Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav & Mahim Joshie

Writers: Raj Kumar Gupta, Parveez Shaikh, Jaideep Yadav & Anagh Mukherjee

Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Anshul Chauhan, Akshat Chauhan, Pawan Malhotra

Runtime: 8 x 40-60 minutes long episodes

Platform: Jio Cinema

Pill Review

Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav and Mahim Joshie, Pill is a thrilling web series that aims to expose the dark underbelly of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. The film follows the struggles of Dr Prakash (Riteish Deshmukh) and his associates – Nimrit Kaur (Anshul Chauhan) – a medical inspector, Ashish Khanna – a microbiologist and Noori (Akshat Chauhan)- a crime reporter, when they decide to fight against a multinational pharmaceutical company, Forever Cure Pharma – owned by Brahm Gill (Pavan Malhotra) for practising unethical clinical trials.

Do the righteous succeed? What are the difficulties they face in uncovering the truth about the powerful and corrupt network that values money more than the health of patients is what Pill is about. Read out Pill Review below.

What Work

Over the years, we have seen many medical thrillers, but Pill stands out from the rest because of the authenticity with which the struggles of the patients and the hardships of the whistleblowers are shown.

What Doesn’t Work

The slow pace of the show makes the 8-episode-long show seem much longer. While the makers have kept the emotions and struggles of the patients and whistleblowers believable, the show seems to lack realism when it comes to making the characters relatable.

Technical Analysis

Story

Pill is a thrilling medical drama that begins with a close shot of a doctor at Sohni Hospital in Patiala, where an individual is seen pressuring a doctor to falsify a drug testing report for 4000 patients after only 40 are tested. The narrative then introduces us to all the key players in the story – Dr Prakash, Nimrit Kaur, Ashish Khanna, Noori and Brahm Gill and several other notable side characters.

The story takes the audience on a journey that shows the dark and ugly side of the pharmaceutical industry and how they conduct testing without a care for the effects it has on the common man’s health. This series exposes the influence of powerful industrialists and politicians and how they manipulate drug regulators, journalists, and whistleblowers.

Direction & Screenplay

While this scene sets the tone for what lies ahead, the series is slow-paced and takes its time building up to an epic legal battle. The narrative is slow as the makers spend the majority of its initial episodes to introduce characters and build up a narrative to take the story forward.

Conclusion

While Riteish Deshmukh delivers a believable performance as Dr Prakash, and the other actors also play their parts well, the slow narrative makes the 8-episode-long series seem longer than it actually is. If the slow start could have been avoided, Pill would undoubtedly be a more interesting thriller that delves into the world of medicine,

Watch the trailer of Pill here:

Also Read: Kakuda REVIEW: After Munjya, Aditya Sapotdar gives an underwhelming horror comedy starring Sonakshi Sinha, Riteish Deshmukh, Saqib Saleem