Cinema is a powerful medium to highlight social issues which otherwise remain neglected from the dominant public discourse. At the same time a web series like Kaalkoot digs a lot deeper and address such issues from a wide range of perspective.

Created by Sumit Saxena and Arunabh Kumar, Kaalkoot deals with the menace of acid attack on women in India. The series successfully peels off different layers of patriarchy in the society that manifests itself in the form of a crime as heinous as acid attack targetting women.

Actor Vijay Varma plays the role of a newly recruited Police inspector who is assigned the case of an acid attack victim in a small fictional town of Uttar Pradesh. As the Police procedural drama unfolds Vijay’s character named Ravi Shankar Tripathi goes through a moral dilemma simply because he refuses to fit into a certain image of masculinity thrust upon him by the society at large. Vijay has delivered a master class in subtle acting in Kalkoot.

Ravi Shankar Tripathi decides to put in his papers within weeks of joining the Police force disillusioned from the way things are run in the department. However, events take an unexpected turn and he becomes so much engrossed in solving the case that his personal life starts getting impacted.

Vijay brings out the innocence and honesty of a small town guy who has grown up in a male dominated society with rare conviction.

Seema Biswas as the mother of Ravi Shankar Tripathi is simply adorable. Her portrayal of the vulnerabilities of a lady who is coming to terms with the loss of her husband is brilliant to say the least. Kalkoot deals with a very serious issue yet it is filled with heavy doses of humor.

The creators of the series have touched upon some underlying factors that are responsible for the growing incidents of crime against women.

How a woman gets judged by everyone despite being a victim of acid attack serves as the moral theme of the series.However, it never sounds preachy.

In a society steeped in patriarchy sometimes it becomes difficult to stand out from the rest.

There is a pivotal scene in Kalkoot in which Ravi tries to confront his fiancee inside a hotel room. But soon he realizes that the male ego in him reacts in a similar way to that of the perpetrator of the acid attack- a byproduct of the world he lives in.

It is out of sheer hatred and complete disregard for women and their rights that crimes like acid attack are committed by a certain kind of man.

Thankfully Ravi does not belong to this category. He is not a conformist who will be pinned down by forces that support female foeticide. Ravi will not only fight against odds to do the right thing but will also exorcise his own inner demons to evolve into a better human being for his own sake.

The metamorphosis which Ravi goes through as a moral creature is symbolic in more ways than one. Kalkoot importantly sheds light on how the society at large should change its attitude towards victims of crime against women.