9 hours (2014) – A crime thriller with gripping moments, on Hotstar

Telugu Web Series On Hotstar ‘9 Hours’ Release Date

The 9-hour (2014) crime thriller web series, written and produced by Krish, has recently been released on Disney+ Hotstar on 2 June 2022 and is currently being streamed live on the ott platform.

9 hours (2014) PLOT- Good Story Accompanied By Stellar Cast

9 Hours is set in the mid-1980s and is a story of a few prison inmates who escaped prison as they are hired to rob three banks and return to prison within nine hours before the next roll call.

They succeed in robbing the first two banks, but the third robbery turns into chaos, resulting in the robbers taking the bank employees as hostages. Taraka Ratna, who plays the role of a hot-tempered cop, Pratap, enters the scene and tries to handle the whole situation. The rest of the story is about how the cop will save everyone from this situation.

Telugu Web Series ‘9 hours’ Review- Hotstar Engaging Effort

The web series 9 hours (2014) is set in 1985 and begins with three inmates escaping from the Central Jail and heading to the Bank (the Deccan Imperial Bank) to carry out a series of well-planned bank robberies.

In the beginning, it may seem like a straightforward plan, but the twist was that they had to return to the prison by the evening roll call. Three men barge into the Bank on a regular working day and take the employees as hostages when things start to go down.

The series has nine episodes correlating with the title of the series, nine hours. The episodes are divided between the prisoners’ escape and their time to return to the prison. As the story progresses, the audience discovers why they are pressured to commit this crime.

With every episode, we become more aware of the backstories of the people connected to the hostage situation, making it one of the most powerful moments of the series. In the meantime, Circle inspector Pratap (Tarak Ratna), who happens to be in the same locality, discovers the Bank under blockade and immediately jumps into action.

The story 9 hours (2014) takes a serious turn from this part, and the rest of the series is about how Pratap will be successful in chasing the robbers to arrest them and save everyone from this situation.

Talking about the writing of the plot, one might expect a crime thriller to be very engaging, having interesting plot twists and other elements that will keep the audience invested in the movie. But unfortunately, the web series lack on this front. The setup and the making of the film feel like it was made in the 80s because of the narration style.

The Central Jail and the Deccan Imperial Bank are the two main shooting spots to show the audience what’s happening simultaneously at these two locations. But the problem lies in how it has been shot. The scenes seem over-dramatized, and some scenes feel unnecessary to the main plot making it less of a crime thriller.

The actors carry the series well with their performances, ensuring the audience stays interested. Taraka Ratna delivers a strong performance as a short-tempered police officer and shines in his role. Shri Tej, Monica, Jwala Koti, Madhu Shalini, and Sameer deliver appreciable performances. Ravi Varma and Giridhar stand out in their roles. Ajay makes most of his role by stealing attention. His motives only become clear at the end of the series.

Overall there are moments in the series 9 Hours (2014) that will make us take a moment and wonder how credible the scenes are. It manages to keep the audience engaged and is worth a shot if crime thrillers are intriguing for you.

9 Hours is adapted from the novel ‘Tommidi Gantalu’ by Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy. The series is written by Krish, the showrunner of the series, and is directed by Niranjan Kaushik and Jacob Varghese. The movie 9 Hours (2014) is currently being streamed on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.