After making you uncomfortable, the series ends abruptly, leaving you with a bitter aftertaste of a self-absorbed world that is too eager to move on, notes Divya Nair.
Gone are the days when school and college dramas had a casual, fun, air about them. Think Hip Hip Hurray or Just Mohabbat when a 30-minute (or maybe less) weekly episode would keep us all glued to it.
Today, despite the overload of streaming platforms, one has to choose between flimsy romcoms with zero recall value or settle for gruesome stories with tiresome tropes.
Either schools and colleges are no longer what they used to be or maybe directors don't want to risk experimenting with a new idea.
When I started watching School of Lies, the vibe was eerily similar to some of the recent and popular high school dramas airing on OTT.
The episode begins with the news of a 12-year-old boy named Shakti, who is missing from his boarding school. When his classmates and parents are unable to trace him, a team of cops are called in to investigate.
What kicks off as a mundane game of whodunnit spreads its claws deeper, unveiling multiple incidents of bullying, theft, rape and molestation at the school.
When Nandita, the school counsellor (played by Nimrat Kaur) offers to talk to the students hoping to help in the investigation, she also sets on a personal journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
It's interesting how a young boy's disappearance is linked to several smaller distinct incidents, all of which mysteriously add up and make sense in the end.
In seven out of eight episodes, we are left wondering why the boy ran away in the first place, as the storytelling keeps him alive through his innocent adventures and dreams.
Was he upset because his parents separated and don't care enough about his dreams?
Or did he run away because he didn't want to fit in, but explore something else on his own?
The main story is woven between several smaller stories, each of which eventually fit in like a puzzle.
School of Lies deserves attention for choosing an uncomfortable theme, but it lacks the courage to get into the details or suggest ways to tackle it.
For example, there are three sets of people who are victims of abuse and each have a distinct scar for memory. But each of them reacts differently to the crime.
While the makers may want us to believe that the ends justify the means -- that the climax is fitting enough for closure -- personally, I feel it would have helped to invest in an extra episode where you are brave enough to help the victims face their fears and anxieties rather than brushing them under the carpet.
We don't get to know how Nandita, who is fighting her own fears, became a counsellor.
Or how a young boy molested by his brother went on to become an inspiring mentor and sexual offender.
Can a victim also be a collaborator to a crime?
Which then is a bigger crime?
Which other conspirator deserved to be punished?
There are many unanswered questions, but that doesn't take away from the makers for attempting to tell a difficult story.
The friendship between Shakti and Chanchal (played by Vir Pachisia and Divyansh Dwivedi) is adorable, but some of the incidents between the duo seem so unreal that you wonder if this is an extended figment of imagination. Because you wouldn't like the way it ends. Maybe secretly, you wouldn't want it to end at all.
After rustling feathers and making you uncomfortable, the series ends abruptly, leaving you with a bitter aftertaste of a self-absorbed world that is too eager to move on.
School of Lies streams on Disney+Hotstar
