Rajkumar Hirani’s Pritam And Pedro Crime Comedy OTT Series Review

Rating: 3.5/5

— Surya Prakash Josyula

Pedro Gonsalves (Arshad Warsi) is a sincere and experienced police officer working in the Goa Crime Branch. He belongs to an older generation and prefers traditional methods of investigation. He may not understand modern technology, but when it comes to solving crime cases, he has years of experience and a sharp understanding of human behaviour.

One day, a mobile phone goes missing from the house of Sports Minister (Satyadeep Mishra). Pedro goes there to investigate and quickly understands from the pattern of the crime that the minister’s own son may have taken the phone. But the minister does not take this well. He gets angry with Pedro and accuses him of blaming his son because he failed to find the real culprit. As a result, Pedro is transferred from the Crime Branch to the Cyber Crime Branch as punishment. This is where the real story begins.

The problem is that Pedro knows almost nothing about cybercrime. In fact, he is not even comfortable using a computer or keyboard. Working in the Cyber Crime Branch feels like a punishment for him. His senior tells him that if he wants to return to the Crime Branch, he must solve at least two cases. That is when Pedro remembers Pritam (Vir Hirani).

Pritam lives in Goa with his grandfather and works as a vacuum cleaner salesman. But behind this ordinary profession is an extraordinary talent. Pritam is a brilliant computer expert with excellent hacking skills. One day, his grandfather’s favourite tape recorder is stolen. The recorder contains a cassette with a song sung by his grandmother, which has a strong emotional value for him. Pritam goes to the police station to file a complaint.

At the same time, Pedro is struggling with an ATM theft case. Pritam uses his technical skills to help him and provides an important lead that helps solve the case within a few hours. Pedro then realises that Pritam is not an ordinary salesman but a computer genius. From there, their unusual friendship begins, and Pritam starts helping Pedro with a few cases.

Things become much more serious when the Sports Minister’s son is kidnapped. Pedro is assigned the case, but his lack of technical knowledge forces him to seek Pritam’s help. In return, Pedro promises to find his grandfather’s missing tape recorder. The two then begin investigating the kidnapping together, but the case turns out to be far more complicated than they expected.

There are several twists and turns, and the investigation eventually becomes connected to Pritam’s past. A mysterious hacker named Martin (Vikrant Massey) also enters the picture and becomes an important part of the story. Who kidnapped the minister’s son? What exactly is Pritam’s past? Who is Martin and what is his connection with Pritam? The answers to these questions form the rest of the series.

Analysis

Many people believe that a good thriller needs big twists, a clever villain and a shocking climax. But the best thrillers are not built only around twists. They work because of the way the screenplay controls the audience’s curiosity and keeps them emotionally connected to the characters. Pritam And Pedro is an interesting attempt in that direction.

Rajkumar Hirani has not directed the series, but his writing DNA is clearly visible. Unlike many crime thrillers that immediately introduce a murder, a villain or a major mystery, this series takes its time. It first establishes its world and characters before slowly bringing the audience into the main investigation. That is an important choice because audiences do not always follow a story only because of its plot. They follow characters they become interested in.

That is why the first episode spends enough time establishing Pedro and Pritam, their personalities and the unusual chemistry between them. The writers understand that once the audience becomes attached to these two characters, they will be willing to follow them through multiple cases and complications.

Pedro’s characterisation is one of the smartest aspects of the screenplay. He is not a perfect hero who knows everything. He is actually very uncomfortable with technology. He struggles with computers, keyboards and the entire working style of the Cyber Crime Branch. On the surface, this creates humour, but from a screenplay point of view, it serves a much bigger purpose.

Pedro’s weakness becomes the reason Pritam is needed. Pedro understands people, traditional policing and investigation, while Pritam understands technology and cybercrime. One has street intelligence and the other has digital intelligence. Their differences are not just used for comedy; they are the foundation of the entire investigative structure.

The ATM theft case in the first episode may look like a small introductory case, but it is actually an important part of the screenplay. It works almost like a blueprint for the rest of the series. Through this case, the audience learns how technology and digital evidence will be used in the story. The writers establish that a digital trail can be as important as physical evidence and that technology can be used both to commit crimes and to solve them.

Once the audience understands these rules in the first episode, the later investigations become easier to follow. This is one of the reasons the screenplay feels carefully constructed. There are several small elements planted throughout the series that become meaningful later. They may not be obvious when watching casually, but they become interesting when you look at the screenplay more closely.

The biggest strength of the series is the Pedro-Pritam relationship. The makers do not try to make them similar. Instead, they make them complete opposites. Pedro represents traditional policing, while Pritam represents the new digital world. Their arguments, differences and mutual dependence create both humour and emotional value.

The series is not perfect, though. The kidnapping track becomes slightly stretched in places, and some of the twists could have been sharper. The backstories also slow down the pace at certain points. The tension that is created in the early part of the kidnapping investigation sometimes loses momentum because the story takes too long to reach the next major development.

However, the strong episode endings, natural characterisation, Arshad Warsi’s performance and the chemistry between the two leads manage to cover most of these weaknesses. The first few episodes have more humour, while the later episodes gradually move towards suspense and emotional drama. This change in tone works well for the most part.

Another interesting aspect of the series is the way it talks about the dangers of the digital world. The smartphone has become an essential part of everyday life, but the same technology can also become a weapon in the hands of criminals. Apps, games, personal information and digital identities can all be misused.

The Blue Whale game track, for example, brings the danger of online manipulation into the story. Some of those scenes may feel simple or familiar, but the larger idea is relevant. Children can be vulnerable to online manipulation, while adults can also become victims because of their weaknesses and lack of awareness.

The series therefore works on two levels. On the surface, it is a crime comedy about a traditional police officer and a brilliant hacker working together. Underneath that, it is also about how technology is changing crime and how policing has to change with it.

Final Thought

A crime thriller is not always about finding a murderer or catching a criminal. As technology changes, the language of crime itself is changing, and crime thrillers have to change with it.

Pritam And Pedro captures that transition through two completely different characters. Pedro represents the old-school police officer who trusts experience and human instincts, while Pritam represents a generation that understands the digital world almost instinctively. When these two worlds come together, the series finds its real identity.

There are a few stretched portions and some predictable moments, but the characterisation, humour, investigation, Arshad Warsi’s performance and the screenplay hooks make the series an engaging watch.

More importantly, the series leaves us with a simple thought: the smartphone may be one of the most useful tools in our lives, but in the wrong hands, it can also become one of the most dangerous weapons.

That is what makes Pritam And Pedro more than just another crime-comedy series. It is a story about crime in the smartphone age — and about how the people trying to stop those crimes must learn to understand the technology behind them.

Where to Watch

Pritam And Pedro is streaming on JioHotstar and is available in Telugu.