The Test Case (web series)

The Test Case is a 2017 Hindi web series, directed by Vinay Waikul and Nagesh Kukunoor and produced by Endemol Shine India for the ALTBalaji app.[1] It stars Nimrat Kaur, Akshay Oberoi, Atul Kulkarni, Rahul Dev and Anup Soni in lead roles along with Juhi Chawla in a guest appearance. The web series is about the main character training to be the first woman test case in a combat role, within the Indian Army.[2][3] The basic story of this web series is inspired from the 1997 American film G.I. Jane.[4]

The Test Case
Written byEndmole Shine India
Directed byVinay Waikul
Nagesh Kukunoor
StarringNimrat Kaur
Akshay Oberoi
Atul Kulkarni
Rahul Dev
Anup Soni
Music bySohail Sen (Title Track)
Tapas Relia (Background Music)
Country of originIndia
Original language(s)Hindi
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Producer(s)Dheeraj Dhoopar
Manit Joura
Shefali Bandyopadhyay
Akshay Mhatre
Shravan Reddy
Production company(s)Kundali Bhagya Act Works
DistributorALT Entertainment
Release
Original networkALTBalaji
Original release30 April 2017 (2017-04-30) –
26 January 2018 (2018-01-26)
External links
Website

Plot

Protagonist Captain Shikha Sharma (Nimrat Kaur) is the only woman in a group of Indian Army officers training to join the Special forces.[5] She is also the first woman to be undertaking the course making her a "test case" for inducting women into combat oriented roles in the Indian army. The storyline revolves around her journey of overcoming challenges at home to biases by her colleagues despite being an intelligent and a highly motivated individual.[6]

Shikha initially faces physical challenges when completing a demanding obstacle course. But she perseveres and overcomes them with grit. This results in making both friends and enemies among her colleagues. She manages to not only remain in the course but also moves up to the top-half of the team's leaderboard. During the final phase of training, which is in the form of a simulated sortie into harsh enemy territory spanning multiple days, Shikha is placed in command of one of the two competing squads in an effort to test her leadership skills. The exercise ends in disaster with the squad losing contact with the course instructors for a prolonged period of time. The squad eventually makes it back with Shikha and Captain Bilal (Akshay Oberoi) suffering severe injuries and unconscious. A medical examination reveals that Shikha's injuries were not as a result of combat injuries. But a follow-up interrogation by the lead course instructor Naib Subedar Kirpal Bhatti (Rahul Dev) and the course commanding officer Colonel Ajinkya Sathe (Atul Kulkarni) has Shikha and the members of her squad insisting that nothing untoward happened and the injuries were as a result of an accident.

In the meanwhile, an anonymous letter is sent to the Army command alleging that Shikha was sexually assaulted during the exercise.[4] Lieutenant Colonel Imtiaz Hussain (Anup Soni), a poker aficionado, is dispatched to investigate quickly and quietly. Using a series of unconventional tactics Major Hussain ultimately manages to piece together the sequence of events and identify the culprit. But Shikha refuses to press charges saying she wants to solve this problem without anyone else helping her. She explains to Hussain that she wants to set a clear example that women are not only just capable of joining combat units but also equally capable of defending themselves without help. She ultimately manages to get Captain Manit Varma (Suhail Nayyar) to confess while covertly recording his confession; And also manages to defeat him in one on one close quarter combat. He is ultimately arrested and led away by the Army police.[7]

The story ends on a happy note with Shikha graduating top of the training course.

Cast

Episodes
  • Episode 1: The Beginning.
  • Episode 2: The Outsider.
  • Episode 3: The Player.
  • Episode 4: Heart of Darkness - Part 1.
  • Episode 5: Heart of Darkness - Part 2.
  • Episode 6: Down but Not Out.
  • Episode 7: Mind Games.
  • Episode 8: Prisoners of Conscience.
  • Episode 9: The Confession.
  • Episode 10: Season Finale: What goes around... Comes around.

Delay in episode availability

The first episode of the series was made available on the launch date over the ALT Balaji App. The future of the series appeared uncertain after successive episodes did not follow for a prolonged period. Reports of creative differences emerged between the director and the producer[9][10][11] as a possible reason for the delay. Eventually it was announced that from the second episode onwards, Kukunoor had been replaced by Vinay Waikul as the director. Waikul had previously served as first assistant director for the super-hit Bollywood films like Dangal, 3 idiots, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Ghajini. This web series was Waikul's directorial debut.[12]

In December 2017, an announcement from the show's producer confirmed the shooting having been completed for the remaining 9 episodes. These were made available for viewing on 26 January 2018 - to coincide with the Indian Republic Day.[13]

Reception

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan liked the series and appreciated the entire cast of the series for their efforts.[14]

Awards
YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultReference
2017 Indian Television Academy Awards Best Actress in a Web Series Nimrat Kaur Won [15]
Best Director in a Web Series Nagesh Kukunoor
2018 IWM Digital Awards Best Actress Drama Nimrat Kaur Won [16]
2018 iReel Awards Best Actress Drama Nimrat Kaur Won [17]
2018 Streaming Awards - February Edition Best Actress Nimrat Kaur Won [18]
gollark: Encode extra proposal content in zero width space/invisible character patterns. I don't think there's any rule specifying the encoding of proposal content, so I could just sneak that into a proposal and later demand that it be followed. Possibly. Except invisible characters are forbidden.
gollark: Huh, 1.8.1 stops my evil plan, that's annoying. Possibly.
gollark: Fine, I will add that later.
gollark: Ah yes, of course, definitely.
gollark: Which means it would be settled by a rule-violation poll, no?

See also

References
  1. "Ekta Kapoor's Test Case back with a bang; this popular actor to join the cast". India Today. 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. "The Test Case trailer: Nimrat Kaur looks tough as nails in her upcoming web series. Watch video". The Indian Express. 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  3. "ALTBalaji launches the inspirational trailer of Nimrat Kaur's 'The Test Case' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  4. "The Test Case review: Nimrat Kaur's one-woman army show is the best thing to happen to Indian TV in years". hindustantimes.com. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  5. "The Test Case trailer: Nimrat Kaur plays an army captain in the upcoming ALTBalaji web series- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  6. "The Test Case Review: Nimrat Kaur's sublime showing, writers' grasp of material make for an Indian army soap opera- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  7. "'The Test Case' Review: B*lls, P*ssies & What They Signify". The Quint. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  8. "The Test Case: Samir Kochhar to star opposite Nimrat Kaur in ALT Balaji web series". Firstpost. 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  9. Nathan, Leona (2017-06-07). "Is Ekta Kapoor's web series Test Case shelved after just one episode?". India.com. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  10. "What happened to Ekta Kapoor's 'Test Case'?". mid-day. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  11. "Nimrat Kaurs Test Case shelved after one episode? Ekta Kapoor reveals the real reason". Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  12. Desk, TV News. "Vinay Waikul Marks Directorial Debut with ALT Balaji's Web Series THE TEST CASE". Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  13. "Nimrat Kaur's web series 'The Test Case' to be back from THIS date". News Nation Bureau. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  14. "Aamir Khan Takes To Twitter, Appreciate Ekta Kapoor and Nimrat Kaur's Web Series: The Test Case". Headlines Today. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  15. "Winners List: 17th Indian Television Academy Awards,2017".
  16. "Winners List: IWM Digital Awards, 2018".
  17. "Winners List: iReel Awards, 2018".
  18. "Winners List: Streaming Awards, February 2018 Edition".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.