‘Dabba Cartel’ review: Overcooked serving of Bad Pharma and the drug trade

In Thane, the city that neighbours Mumbai, Raji (Shalini Pandey), Mala (Nimisha Sajayan) and Shahida (Anjali Anand) use a lunch delivery service to supply narcotics along with home-cooked food. When the dealer Amol (Sandesh Kulkarni) creates trouble for the trio, Raji’s mother-in-law Sheila (Shabana Azmi) steps in, her knowledge of criminal activities vast and suspicious.

This endeavour runs parallel to the shenanigans at the VivaLife pharmaceutical company, where Raji’s husband Hari (Bhupendra Singh Jadawat) works. Company boss Shankar (Jisshu Sengupta) is illegally peddling opioids. Government employee Ajit (Gajraj Rao) teams up with police inspector Preeti (Sai Tamhankar) to expose VivaLife.

Dabba Cartel has a catchy title and an overcooked premise. The seven-episode Hindi series on Netflix is more convincing than the similarly themed Saas, Bahu aur Flamingo on streaming rival JioHotstar, but only just.

Written by Vishnu Menon and Bhavna Kher, Dabba Cartel begins well, with potentially interesting characters and a set-up within the realm of the possible. Filled mostly with plainly attired women who barely wear make-up, Dabba Cartel feels like it could actually be happening.

The forced braiding of two disconnected rackets is especially hard on Shankar’s beleaguered wife Varuna (Jyotika). The script finds a way to nudge Varuna into the orbit of the dabba dames, but the contrivance weighs heavy…

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