Survival drama series Kaala Paani has been making waves ever since it dropped on Netflix and has earned the tag of being one of the best shows of 2023. Set in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kaala Paani is a startling screenplay by Biswapati Sarkar, the man behind light-hearted shows like TVF’s Permanent Roommates, Pitchers, Bisht Please and Chai Sutta Chronicles. We pick the three actors whose performances as the three key male characters are a tour de force in Kaala Paani.

Vikas Kumar

We were floored by his turn as ACP Younus Khan in Sushmita Sen-starrer Aarya but as Santosh Savla in Kaala Paani, actor and dialogue coach Vikas Kumar shows us the range and scale he is capable of. Savla plays a middle-class family man who travels to Andaman and Nicobar Islands with his wife and children for a holiday which goes horribly wrong. Starting from the agony of losing his wife to the separation from his children, from enduring extreme physical pain to getting lost in the forest with no food and water, from facing deadly beings to finally surviving, it is a story of immense grit and determination. Kumar drives home the horror of what a common man can become in the face of adversity.

Sukant Goel

Known for his impactful performances in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Dobaaraa and Monica, O My Darling, Sukant Goel plays Chiranjeevi Prabhu (Chiru), a local tour guide in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and owns the part. Though raised in a progressive household, Chiru is greedy and has ditched idealistic thinking for quick cash. Chiru takes tourists to far-off islands as a cover for his real motive of hunting eggs of exotic animals for smuggling.

When a mysterious illness descends upon the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, his life alters as he loses his accomplice-cum-friend and then his mother to it. While trying his best to save the tourists, whose lives he has put in danger, he stumbles upon a secret about his connection to the indigenous tribe who seem to be immune to the illness. Sukant makes Chiru’s transformation from a crook to a protector very convincing.

Amey Wagh

Last seen in the acclaimed web series Asur, Amey Wagh as police inspector Ketan Kamat in Kaala Paani is a character who you detest throughout the show but sympathise with at the end. Ketan starts off as an opportunistic cop who wants a transfer out of the Islands and is ready to sell his soul for that.

With his wonderful comic timing, Wagh makes the most of his scenes and dialogues, which are also the funniest in this otherwise sombre drama series. Ketan’s inherent goodness peeps out at times — like when he falls in love without any agenda, to his own surprise — but it seems he brushes it aside as he must live up to his wicked nature. Don’t miss his preference for a certain flavour of chips in the unlikeliest of situations, evoking both laughter and empathy.