A small town is in the grip of two ruthless rival political groups. Its hapless people have nowhere to go since the cops have turned a blind eye to their woes. It’s a familiar tale in mainstream cinema. The new Telugu web series Newsense, streaming on Aha, uses this familiar setting to narrate a fictional story of newsmen and women in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, and discuss the role of the media. Written by journalist Priyadarshini Ram and directed by Sri Prawin, the series led by actors Navdeep and Bindu Madhavi is not a story of heroic saviours but one that opts for a dark portrayal of the functioning of the media.
The six-episode series, with each episode lasting 25-35 minutes, is filled with multiple characters across social strata who drive the narrative forward. A woman who repeatedly visits the police station to enquire about her missing husband, an elderly couple that runs from pillar to post to fight for their usurped farmland and an ailing elderly man and his granddaughter are some of the characters facing the apathy of local governance in the story. There is overt predictability in the arcs of these characters. We know that their situation will go from bad to worse and may become the reason for some pivotal characters to take on the negative forces.
