Magazine

This is one of the best OTT series currently streaming on Netflix. The movie is based on a true story in the life of Amit Lodha, an IPS officer , who penned is experience in a book titled Bihar Diaries.

The book sketches the gang wars in Bihar and It takes the viewer on how Chandan Mahto, a hardened criminal from the dalit community ruled the roost between 2000 – 2006. He was a dreaded gangster from Bihar who massacred people for fun. The gangster’s life and his exploits in Bihar have been brought to the screen by producer Neeraj Pandey in the Netflix series Khakhee : The Bihar Chapter. The seven episodes of Bihar Chapter narrates the story IPS officer Amit Lodha’s chase and capture of one of the most dreaded criminals of early 2000’s.

Actor Avinash Tiwary ( Bulbull, Laila Majnu) Plays the role of Chandan Mahto while Karan Tacker plays Amit Lodha. Avinash Tiwary as Chandan Mahto has lived the role and is simply superb. Chandan Mahto’s character in the series is based on Pinto Mahto ( gangster) , who was involved in several murder cases and was part of Ashok Mahto’s gang. The gang was responsible for the killing of congress MP Rajo Singh in 2005. Pintu was wanted in as many as 30 cases of murder, abduction, including the Nawada jailbreak on December 23, 2001 where he and his accomplices had escaped after killing two policemen. The Ashok Mahto gang was most notorious and its rivalry with the Akilesh Singh gang from 1998 – 2000 claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the Nawada district of Bihar. The gang war affected over 100 villages in Bihar in the Nawada, Nalanda and Sheikhpura districts of Bihar. The clash between the two groups was mainly due to inter-caste rivalry between Bhumihars and Kurmis.

In 2003 the gang had killed the father of MLA Aruna Devi, wife of Akilesh Singh and others including a five year old boy The killings were reported to be retaliation for the deaths of seven labors who were allegedly killed by the Akilesh Singh gang. In 2000 the gang attacked the same MLA’s house and killed 12 people. In 2005, Aruna Devi was a candidate from Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) for the region’s legislative assembly.

IPS Amit Lodha was the one who used his intellect to catch Pinto Mahto. Amit at that time was posted as the Superintendent of Police in Bihar. Amit however, did not name Pinto in the book, but the character of Vijay Samrat in the book was based on Pinto Mahto. Pintu was caught by Amit Lodha in 2006, from near the Satsang Colony, Deoghar in Jharkand, where he was staying with his family he was handed a life time by the Judiciary (Court). Pintu is currently serving his sentence.

Review by Rajeev Balakrishnan – a movie enthusiast.