OTT's latest crime thriller: Watch or skip?

The true crime genre can now boast of another collection in its already huge basket as the first season of Manvat Murders, directed by Ashish Bende, has released on Sony LIV. The plot of the series revolves around the real-life murders that rocked the city of Manvat in Maharashtra in the 1970s.

Based on Ramakant Kulkarni's book Footprints on the Sand of Time, the series stars Ashutosh Gowariker in the lead role along with notable names like Sonali Kulkarni, Sai Tamhankar, Makarand Anaspure and Kishore Kadam.

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While reviews were mostly positive and met all the criteria you'd expect from a crime thriller, such as police investigations, suspects and heinous motives, the series seems to suffer from a major pacing problem.

Viewers have complained that at a certain point the series starts to feel deliberately drawn out and the tension builds extremely slowly, almost at a crawl at times. Reviews say that it will be quite difficult to stay seated until the sixth episode. After that, there's a sudden change of pace that results in suddenly cramming in too many things leading up to the climax.

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Users have expressed their opinions about the series on social media. One user on Another user on Reddit complained about the disappointing tension buildup.

While the film's plot has been criticized, the notable performances of the actors, particularly Sai Tamhankar and Kishore Kadam, have received high praise from viewers, making the film overall a well-balanced film with strong acting but mediocre execution.

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