Netflix's ‘Glory’ Review: Divyenndu, Pulkit Samrat, Suvinder Vicky's boxing drama is nothing less than a masterpiece

Language: Hindi

Director: Karan Anshuman

Cast:  Divyenndu, Pulkit Samrat, Suvinder Vicky, Jannat Zubair, Ashutosh Rana, Sikandar Kher, Sayani Gupta, Yashpal Sharma, Kashmira Pardeshi and Kunal Thakur

You don’t really need big stars to make great shows and Netflix has proved it yet again with its new series Glory.  Set against the fiercely competitive world of boxing and the thirst for the Olympic gold medal, Netflix’s Glory shows how far people are willing to go for their ambitions. And unlike Karan Anshuman’s Mirzapur, Glory is not just about extensive gore, but much more than that.

Though predictable, Netflix’s Glory has a story and ample emotion and a sneak peek into the life of boxers of Haryana. The show reflects a lot on the Haryanvi lifestyle, mentality of the people, family conflict and revenge, yet it isn’t preachy and leaves it to the viewers to decide between the right and the wrong.

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Revenge sagas, though very common in the digital platforms, but this one is different because it isn’t just a sports-drama or just a thriller, but a kind of a moral lesson for you as to how far a person can go to prove his/her point. You cannot put Glory inside any kind of genre boxes. What makes the show stand out is its striking rustic setting.

At its core, Glory brings to the fore a fractured family forced to be back together. Raghubir Singh (Suvinder Vicky), a formidable boxing coach driven by an obsession with Olympic glory, struggles to hold together a legacy that is slowly unravelling under the weight of strained relationships. His sons Dev (Divyenndu) and Ravi (Pulkit Samrat) return to Shaktigarh to uncover the truth behind the brutal assault on their sister Gudiya (Jannat Zubair) and the mysterious death of a rising Olympic boxing star — Nihal Singh (Yugam Sood). The show focuses on the fallout of Nihal Singh's death, involving a gritty tale of boxing, ambition, and revenge in Haryana.

The show starts with both Gudiya (Jannat Zubair) and Nihal Singh (Yugam Sood) planning to run away from Haryana to Delhi to begin a new life. But something unfortunate happens. A group of masked men tries to kill them. Nihal Singh dies, but Gudiya survives. But after a few days she gets killed mysteriously in the hospital, just when she got back her senses. But what really happened is the real question and why was Gudiya killed.

Netflix ‘Glory’ Review: Divyenndu, Pulkit Samrat, Suvinder Vicky's boxing drama is nothing less than a masterpiece

Beyond the family, Glory opens into a world where every character has a stake. Sikandar Kher’s Kookie Gulati looms over Shaktigarh, while Ashutosh Rana’s Viju Sanghwan drives the boxing rivalry. Sayani Gupta’s Joyna who plays the role of a journalist digs into Nihal’s death, uncovering deeper links, as Kashmira Pardeshi’s Bharti stands at the centre - sharp and unpredictable. Each and every character has a backstory.

Good to see Suvinder Vicky back after his brilliant performance in Netflix’s Kohrra. His performance is as usual intense and how can I forget his nuanced portrayal of SI Balbir Singh Sekhon in the 2023 Netflix crime thriller Kohrra. Not many dialogues, he just knows how to talk with his eyes and we have seen that intensity in his performance in Kohrra as well and now again in Glory. He is shown as a boxer who won a silver for the country and now is a coach and aiming that someone from his boxing coaching institute must get a gold and bring ‘Glory’ for the country.  

Divyenndu, who plays the role of his eldest son who ran away from his home and the clutches of his controlling father, makes it very clear from the beginning that he is in Shaktigarh only to find out who was behind the heinous crime.

Divyenndu knows exactly how to get into the skin of the character. Dev (Divyenndu) is shown to be the dark sheep of the house. He is known for his brilliant craft in the digital platform and he knows how to seamlessly move from a relatable comic character to equally dark ones. In Netflix’s Glory, he plays the role of a rebellious son.

Pulkit Samrat who plays the role of Ravi and Gudiya’s younger brother too has a backstory. Netflix’s Glory is a tale of a totally dysfunctional family with lots of mystery behind it. The series delves deep into the different layers of each of the characters.

Netflix’s Glory shows the politics that goes behind this sport and the games people play to reach the Olympics. The series shows a father’s ambition and how far he can go to bring ‘glory’ for the family and the country. Glory will make you think how ambition can be toxic when it transforms from a healthy motivator into a relentless, insatiable need for more, leading to burnout, ethical compromises, and a diminished quality of life. The cliffhanger ending suggests that it is going to come up with a Season 2.

The beautiful thing about the series is the way the characters evolve and it’s absolutely magical to realise how we have got engrossed in their lives. Glory is consistently engaging. Its insight into the boxing words and power play is indeed priceless. There are a lot of things that you will get to know about the game including the 'illegal fights'. The show is engaging mainly because of its brillaint craftsmen. On the whole, the seven-episode series truly deserves every bit of your time; binge-watch it or sit through all the seven-episodes at one go, just the way I did, but don’t give Netflix’s Glory a miss.

Rating: 4 (out of 5)

WATCH the trailer of Netflix ‘Glory’ here: