Cartel (TV series)

Cartel is an Indian streaming television series produced by Ekta Kapoor under the banner of Balaji Telefilms. It stars Supriya Pathak, Rithvik Dhanjani, Jitendra Joshi, Tanuj Virwani and Divya Agarwal. It was released on 20 August 2021.

Plot

The story revolves around 5 gang-lords of Mumbai. Khan, Anna, Angre, Gajraj and a mysterious movie producer form 5 gangs who rule the low-profile underworld in the city of dreams. While all 5 gangs operate in different parts of the city, order and harmony is ensured only due to one Iron lady, Rani Maai who sits on a throne and looks over the smooth functioning of events.

Cast

Supriya Pathak as Rani Mai
Rithvik Dhanjani as Abhay Angre
Tanuj Virwani as Ex-Major Arjun Mhatre/ Major Bhau
Divya Agarwal as Grizzey
Jitendra Joshi as Madhukar Mhatre/ Madhu Mhatre
Monica Dogra as Maya
Samir Soni as Dorabjee
Shubhrajyoti Barat as Gajraj
Sushrii Mishra as Vaidehi
Tannishtha Chatterjee as Romilla
Girija Oak as Rama
Pranati Rai Prakash as Sumi
Krishna Kaul as Javed
Aditi Vasudev as Shweta
Mayur More as Chiru
Gaurav Sharma as ACP Dixit
Kannan Arunachalam as Anna
Vibhav Roy
Nabeel Ahmed
Aanchal Goswami
Amey Wagh as Dhawal
Riya Sobudh
Sanaya Pithawalla as Shreya
Mrinal Dutt as Yograj
Anil George as Khan
Ashwath Bhatt as Chairman
Mrinal Das as Suraj

Release

The official trailer of the web series was launched on 1 August 2021 by MX Player on YouTube.

Reception

Joginder Tuteja for ABP News rated 4 stars out of 5 and wrote "Cartel is an impressive show and rest assured, the work would have begun on the sequel due to the inherent dramatic quotient that it carries. An epic gangster drama, it works immensely due to the family set up which makes it different from usual underworld affairs." Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated only 1 star out of 5 stars and wrote "There's no tension, no thrills, no logic, no humour, no darkness and not an iota of entertainment." Bharathi Pradhan for Lehren gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote "A starlet’s death which evokes remarks that followed the suicide of a famous star last year, a birthday party held at gun point, a wedding anniversary, family celebrations and loss of lives at every turn, keep the story moving." Archika Khurana for The Times of India "In a nutshell, if the gang wars are your thing, ‘Cartel’ will provide plenty of murder, slaughter and gunfights."