The lockdown has led to quite an increase in people binge-watching shows on online streaming services as a way to kill the extra time they now have while being at home. Thus, there has also been a rise in demand for quality shows, and streaming services around the world have been churning out content in response to this. Quality entertainment is not the easiest to find, and therefore this review of the new show ‘The Casino’ will tell you all you need to know about the show, which is based on a real money casino’s operations and the struggle for its ownership, and all the intrigue and games that follow around that.This is quite a new concept for a show on a streaming platform, at least where Indian audiences are concerned. Streaming on the ZEE5 service, ‘The Casino’ is a web series about the heir of a huge casino in the country. Karanvir Bohra stars as Vicky, the aforementioned heir, who is not the typical rich boy brat, but is humble, charming and simple. However, he soon gets sucked into the politics and mind games along with the other characters, as they all plot and scheme to try and get their hands on the casino business. There are ten episodes in this season, with each episode being replete with drama, mystery, glamour, intrigue and conspiracies, with there even being murder on the show as the season progresses, and then a need for revenge by the wronged characters. It is an excellent production by the Zee team, and has already been causing quite a few ripples in the Indian television and streaming scene.
This is also seen by the fact that the production of the show was extremely enjoyable for the cast and crew. In an interview, Bohra, the aforementioned lead of the show, mentioned how the outdoor shooting schedules for the show were some of the best he has ever been on. While most of the show was shot in Mumbai, there were some sequences which were shot in Nepal, which is the schedule that Bohra was referring to. He mentions the natural beauty of Kathmandu, where the shooting took place, along with the local culture, food and people as making the shooting experience one of the best he has been on, which is high praise since Bohra is an extremely experienced actor on the Indian television circuit. There was a bit of a scare with the COVID-19 pandemic though, as the team entered Nepal just when news was breaking of the virus spreading in neighbouring China. Thankfully enough, they managed to complete their shoot schedule and leave the country for India before the virus entered Nepal, but it was nevertheless a slightly tense time for everyone on set, as any signs of the virus having been contracted by a cast or crew member would have probably led to immediate quarantine for all of them in a foreign country, which would not be a nice experience at all. Bohra also says that the overall experience was good enough for the fears of the virus to be covered up, which is a testament to the Nepali people and their hospitality.‘The Casino’ is a very good new show on the Indian streaming market, and it only goes to show that the rise of OTT content in the country is pushing creators to put out new and innovative content for their audiences, as the process has been democratized and viewers have a huge amount of choice at their fingertips now, making quality the most important aspect of any production.