‘Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper’ review: Show about sex work is proud to be loud

A chartered accountant in government service piles up unmanageable debt. Noida native Tribhuvan (Manav Kaul) is compelled to put the bedroom prowess that delights his wife Ashoklata (Naina Sareen) to profitable use: he becomes a sex worker.

This Beau Du Jour who operates under the fake name CA Topper turns out to have a knack for his side hustle. Women queue up for a good time that always includes emotional comfort. Among them is Bindi (Tillotama Shome), the wife of the criminal Raja Bhaiya (Shubhrajyoti Barat).

The paths of Tribhuvan, Bindi, Raja and Raja’s henchmen Lappu (Amarjeet Singh) and Dhaincha (Ashok Pathak) eventually cross with police officers Haider (Faisal Mallik) and Mathew (Sunil Saraswat). The Sherlock-Watson pairing, apart from representing the entirety of Noida’s law enforcement, are sharper than they look. Deception – of appearance or intent – undergirds the new adults-only show from Mirzapur co-creator Puneet Krishna.

The Netflix series Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper, which Krishna has co-directed with Amrit Raj Gupta, has a minor army of characters claiming to be one thing and turning out to be something else. Apart from the cash-strapped Tribhuvan, his brother-in-law Shambhu (Sumit Gulati) and Shambu’s seemingly demure wife Shobha (Shweta Basu Prasad) too are compelled to get inventive to generate income. Noida...

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