Taaza Khabar

***Taaza Khabar*** (Hindi: ताज़ा ख़बर, *Tāzā Xabar*[?]; English: Hot News) is an action comedy drama web series created by Bhuvan Bam and directed by Himank Gaur. It was premiered on Indian OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar on 6 January 2023.

It is available in Hindi, with dubs for Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada, as well as with English subtitles.

## Summary

A sanitation worker, how he stumbles upon magical powers which leads to a riveting new ride for the man, and how it stirs his humble life.

## Plot

Vasant Gawde lives with his family in the Byculla slums of Mumbai, Maharashtra, and is a sanitation worker at a public toilet. He is also in love with a prostitute named Madhubala, who is also loved by a corrupt minister named Atul Shetty. One night, he encounters an old woman who had fallen unconscious in her stall. He cleans her up and leads her out, leading to the old woman blessing her with the ability to read news from the future. Vasant uses his ability to inform a *1 Crore Jeeto* participant of the next correct answer for ₹1 crore, in exchange for ₹30 lakh.

However, the clue is of no use when two similar answers are shown as options. Due to this, Vasant does not earn any amount of money. Later, he along with a restaurant owner named Mehboob Sayyid, his daughter Shazia Sayyid, Vasant's friend Peter, and Madhu, start betting on cricket matches with the help of an agent in contact with Mehboob and Shazia, and win it big when they win the bet with Vasant's ability. Vasant pays back his debt to Shetty, and frees Madhu from the brothel.

With the acquired money, Vasant continues betting, eventually coming under the sight of Shetty, who believes that he is a match-fixer. Vasan brings out his mother from the chawl to the luxurious hotel the group is staying in, but his father stays back. Madhu turns her side-business of stitching *sarees* into a full-time occupation, and employs other prostitutes from her former workplace. Vasant soon buys Bilimoria, a rich retiree's house. Gradually with the influx of money, power and recognition, Vasant turns ignorant and becomes a megalomaniac. He falls in love with another rich businesswoman named Suhani.

On new year's eve, Vasant has a party at his newly-acquired residence with all his business associates and close contacts. At the party, Shetty arrives with Vasant's father Ashok as his footman. Enraged, at the count of zero on 1 January of the new year, Vasant kisses Suhani, leading to Madhu being devastated and returning to her brothel, followed by Shetty. Vasant later returns to his chawl home and sees his father sleeping in his room, and on his phone receives the news from future, of him being killed due to untold circumstances.

## Cast

* Bhuvan Bam as Vasant Gawde
* Shriya Pilgaonkar as Madhubala
* J.D. Chakravarty as Arun Kumar Shetty
* Deven Bhojani as Mehboob
* Prathmesh Parab as Raja Chaturvedi aka "Peter"
* Nitya Mathur as Shazia
* Shilpa Shukla as Reshma
* Mithilesh Chaturvedi as Kersi Billimoria
* Mahesh Manjrekar as Kismat Bhai
* Athisha Naik as Alpana Gawde
* Vijay Nikam as Ashok Gawde
* Reha Sukeja as Suhani Verma

## Episodes

* *Khabardaar*
* *Vardaan*
* *Azaadi*
* *Kismat*
* *Baazi*
* *Shraap*

## Reception

The series has received a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDb, and a rating of 3/5 on Koimoi.

It has been described as having a clichéd unoriginal storyline, copied out from Disney's *That's So Raven* (2003) and supposedly inspired from Danny Boyle's *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008), by *The Print*. It has also received criticism, as well as a 2/5 rating from *NDTV* for an unoriginal plotline and character setting.

*The Quint* has described it relying "too heavily on its cast," while *The Film Companion* sets a similar review, describing it as a stale rags-to-riches story with classic TV tropes.

## External links

* Disney+ Hotstar
* Trailer on YouTube
* IMDb
* Wikipedia article

## References

1. ↑ Reema Chhabda (1 January 2023). Exclusive! Bhuvan Bam on performing action scenes in Taaza Khabar: The script just wanted me to scream in pain. *OTTplay*.
2. ↑ Raghav Bikhchandani (6 January 2023). Unlike BB Ki Vines, Bhuvan Bam’s Taaza Khabar is sadly a walking, talking cliché. *The Print*.
3. ↑ Saibal Chatterjee (6 January 2023). Taaza Khabar Review: Bhuvan Bam And Shriya Pilgaonkar's Series Is A Desultory Affair. *NDTV*.
4. ↑ Pratikshya Mishra (6 January 2023). ‘Taaza Khabar’ Review: Bhuvan Bam’s Show Relies Almost Too Heavily on Its Cast. *The Quint*.
5. ↑ Rahul Desai (6 January 2023). Taaza Khabar Review: Bhuvan Bam's Series is Stale and Imitative. *The Film Companion*.