Vishal Bhardwaj is a master of adaptations. His Shakespeare trilogy (Maqbool, Omkara, Haider) and his adaptation of Ruskin Bond's Susanna's Seven Husbands (Saat Khoon Maaf) are just two examples.
Vishal Bhardwaj's new web series is based on Agatha Christie's 1931 novel The Sittaford Mystery, but he has set it in Solang Valley and Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The snow-covered mountains and old-world mansions are the only visual similarities between the two works.
The characters and their backgrounds are based on Indian culture and come from different ethnic groups. The detective investigating the murder case is Charlie Chopra (Wamiqa Gabbi), a Punjabi girl, who is engaged to Jimmy (Vivaan Shah), an entrepreneur who has been arrested for the murder of his maternal uncle.
The show starts with a supernatural/horror element. Roy (Naseeruddin Shah), a paranormal investigator, summons Lady Rose, a spirit who protects Solang Valley, to announce that Rawat is dead.
The scene where Roy summons Lady Rose feels like it came straight out of a play. The eccentric costumes designed by Abhilasha Sharma, the staging by cinematographer Tassaduq Hussain, and Naseeruddin Shah's immersive performance all contribute to this effect.
Agatha Christie's novel also begins with a séance, but the theatrical nature of the scene in Charlie Chopra makes it clear that this is not a supernatural murder mystery. Since the show is set almost a century after the original novel, we see the other actors in the room share our amusement and suspicion at the mumbo jumbo.
The writers of the show, Vishal, Anjum Rajabali, and Jyotsna Hariharan, often use the device of the fourth wall. Charlie is introduced in a fun and energetic way, dancing in a wedding procession before she puts on her detective hat and starts looking for the groom's stolen shoes. It's only when she gets a call about her fiancé's arrest that we see her break the fourth wall with a Punjabi curse word.
Wamiqa Gabbi looks and feels like Charlie Chopra, a hereditary detective who was trained well by her estranged mother. But her casual use of Punjabi swear words and the way she breaks the fourth wall to explain things to the audience don't always work. This format is still new to the Indian audience, and Charlie Chopra is only a small step in the direction of shows like Fleabag.
Breaking the fourth wall works even less well when Charlie discusses the details of the case with her fellow investigator, journalist Sitaram (Priyanshu Painyuli), instead of sharing her theories with the audience.
The way Charlie breaks the fourth wall works best when she asks us to look away while she changes her clothes and when she shuts the door on us after an embarrassing moment. These two instances make us question our own prying gaze and make us feel like we are truly participating in the story.
Vishal Bhardwaj's best trick in Charlie Chopra & the Mystery of Solang Valley is how he seamlessly weaves together the individual backstories of each character with the investigation. This makes the whodunit more interesting because every suspect has a motive, the means, and the will to commit the murder. In the end, it was the one who acted on impulse who became the killer.
All the characters in Charlie Chopra & the Mystery of Solang Valley have fascinating storylines, and like any good whodunit, they all lead to the murder. Each character is so interesting that I would have preferred to see them in a weekly one-hour episode dedicated to each suspect, like in Only Murders in the Building. I hope Vishal Bhardwaj is listening because I would love to see a Season 2!