Viraatapalem PC Meena Reporting OTT Review: Solid Idea Ruined By Bland Narration!

South Indian creators have been trying to master long-form storytelling, but most of their attempts have failed. Even OTT giants like Netflix, Prime Video, and others are eager to showcase the commercial movies they produce, but they are not as willing to support the creation of web series and shows.

While the recently released Kerala Crime Files season 2 partially met expectations, Malayalam movie-makers must fully adapt to this storytelling format to provide audiences with an enriching streaming experience.

Amid this, Zee5 (Z5) released a web series named Viraatapalem—PC Meena reporting. The concept of Viraatapalem seems very intriguing on paper. Brides die mysteriously in a village right after their marriage, and the villagers attribute the same to a curse. Constable Meena, determined to uncover the mystery behind these deaths, steps in.

A lot of long-format storytelling relies on murder mysteries, as they provide ample room for suspense and drama. The makers of Viraatapalem successfully chose the right genre, but they failed to execute it effectively. Viraatapalem contains a total of seven episodes of around 25 minutes each, which happens to be less than three hours.

Long-form storytelling is about characters, about their backstories, and about how engagingly you tell them. Viraatapalem could have easily been adapted into a movie, and the outcome would have remained unchanged. Some people prefer web series and shows over cinema because these formats provide greater opportunities to explore characters in depth.

Not just characters, a lot of good web series have an effect that lasts because they create the world so perfectly that it refuses to leave the minds of the viewers. That's also one of the reasons why long-form storytellers for English shows are different, and they don't really make commercial cinema for Hollywood.

For what it's worth, Viraatapalem starts off on a promising note, and when the focus lies on Meena trying to find out certain elders' true motives while attempting to solve the murders, it was definitely intriguing. But, beyond this, it's tough to find another aspect of this Zee5 show to admire as it becomes just another regular tale.