Medical dramas and court room dramas have their own, inimitable charm. They almost always make for compelling entertainment and director Rajkumar Gupta’s new web series, titled Pill is no exception to the rule. This new show, featuring Riteish Deshmukh as the lead, makes some hard-hitting revelations about the pharmaceutical industry and the way big corporations end up exploiting their underpriviledged consumers. It showcases a world quite similar to the previous offerings by Rajkumar Gupta – Raid, No One Killed Jessica and Aamir – therefore, there’s no surprise that Pill serves up such engaging drama.
The story is based in Delhi and Punjab with a pharmaceutical company Forever Cure, at the centre of the action. The company is owned by Brahma Gill (Pavan Malhotra) who will stop at nothing to see his company become the biggest pharma brand in India and the world. In his ambitious overdrive, Gill has his company release diabetes, antibiotic and cancer drugs in the Indian market without proper testing. His greed-fuelled escapades are thwarted by the ernest efforts of Dr Prakash Chouhan (Riteish Deshmukh) and his team at the Medical Authority of India. The series showcases an honest doctor’s fight against a corrupt corporation and their exploitation of the drugs manufacturing and distribution system.
Rajkumar Gupta’s films have always struck a balance between social relevance and entertainment. His OTT debut, Pill follows the same trend. This show highlights some hard-hitting truths about commercial medicines and drugs use. Big pharma companies have a social as well as health responsibility while manufacturing and marketing their medicines. At times, some companies end up floundering with their protocols and that can end up affecting the health and life of the patients who use the medicines. Pill highlights the travails of this system with maturity and in-depth insights.
The show’s central characters Prakash (Riteish), Gursimran (Anshul Chauhan) and Noor (Akshat Chauhan) fight the good fight against corruption and deceit. Another strong suite of the show is the theme of people fighting against problems only when it affects them. Noor, an aspiring journalist, picks up the fight against Forever Cure because his mother died while being treated with antibiotics manufactured by Forever Cure. The idea that it’s not our problem until it hits us, is the emotional driver of this show.
The performances by the entire cast are topnotch. Riteish Deshmukh leads the way with his naive but earnest character. His performance is testament to Riteish’s versatility as an actor. His scenes with Baharul Islam, playing Dr Basudev, are a masterclass in acting. Pavan Malhotra, as the antagonist is in top form, too. Anshul Chauhan, Kunj Anand and Akshat Chauhan deliver fantastic performances. The team of writers, led by Parveez Shaikh and Jaideep Yadav deserve a mention too, for being able to research and present real-life truth with utmost honesty.
Pill, which has started streaming on Jio Cinema, is a worthy watch. The climactic portions, especially in the Supreme Court proceedings become a little convenient, but even then, this series manages to be thought-provoking and engaging in equal measure.
