Reporting Live Review
Director: Dhruv Tripathi
Date Created: 2026-10-09 23:41
1.5
Reporting Live Review: Directed by Dhruv Tripathi, the Netflix thriller stars Parineeti Chopra as Sandhya Yadav, a television reporter, and Deven Bhojani as Vinod Sharma, her cameraman and closest professional ally. The supporting cast includes Adil Hussain, Shekhar Suman, Amol Palekar, Nassar, Saswata Chatterjee, Pitobash Tripathy, Prachee Shah Pandya, Sameer Kochhar and Geeta Agrawal Sharma. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Reporting Live Review
Netflix’s Reporting Live revolves around the story of Sandhya, who is a reporter working at Azaad Bharati TV station based in Mumbai. She aspires to make a name for herself as a distinguished journalist and earn a spot in the coveted prime-time news segment. With cameraman Vinod by her side, the two spend their days pursuing stories that would bring them viewers and enhance the channel’s ratings. But one day their work goes from being risky to dangerous when a bridge collapse occurs in rural Maharashtra, pointing to an illegal sand mining site which seems to be well protected by influential people.
As they begin to investigate, the duo finds themselves in a conflict with villagers as well as some of the most powerful businessmen and executives in the newsroom, who have no intention of letting the truth out. The most obvious weakness of Netflix film Reporting Live lies in the fact that it tries to make an investigative thriller movie but fails miserably at making the investigation itself seem realistic.
The sand mining scam offers a great base for the film, as the consequences of such scams are not limited to economic issues; they also affect the environment and the safety of common people. Still, it feels like the main goal of the movie is to demonstrate the importance of the problem rather than to make an exciting thriller out of it.
Sandhya proves to be quite disappointing as the main protagonist. She is introduced as a resolute reporter who does not give up in spite of the attempts of the influential to suppress her. As such, in theory, she is supposed to be a person worth cheering for. However, her character seems to be rather weak since, in the film, her resoluteness is shown time and again instead of developing her journalistic or emotional skills. She seems to be constantly surprised by the realities of the journalism business even though she already has sufficient experience. Her goal to become a reporter on prime time is rather poorly developed.
Parineeti Chopra fails to help the character transcend her limitations. Her performance lacks the nuance and range that would allow her to convincingly portray Sandhya as a genuine reporter facing an increasingly difficult situation. No matter whether she is addressing a boss, interviewing a source or venting her frustrations, the character comes across as working on one level of emotions only. I wanted to see a more fleshed-out journalist beneath the steely resolve, one who was capable of making mistakes, reevaluating her decisions and becoming more astute during the course of her investigation.
Vinod is portrayed better by Deven Bhojani. The actor’s inclusion in the movie helps add a certain amount of ease to it, especially in scenes involving interaction with Sandhya and at home with his wife, Prachee Shah Pandya. At times, the couple appears more believable in their roles than the entire investigation plotline, as it gives glimpses of the routine interaction between two colleagues. However, the character of Vinod would have been more compelling if there was more attention paid to his stakes in the story. For example, his habit of using a hip flask does not get developed further in the movie.
The more interesting conflict is the one within Azaad Bharati. Adil Hussain portrays an executive editor who finds himself torn between his duties as a journalist and those dictated by the interests of the corporate powers running the channel, played by Shekhar Suman. This conflict gives the movie a chance to delve into the question of how a newsroom can lose its independence without losing the language of responsibility.
Hussain is definitely restrained enough in his acting, while Suman is the embodiment of the power threatening to determine what news the channel will publish. The conflict promises a more complex movie than the one we got to watch. I was much more intrigued by the conflict between them than by the increasing exaggeration on the part of Sandhya.
Another character who can be of great use is Kaka, the village elder from Amol Palekar’s side. While his knowledge about the mining helps Sandhya and Vinod get into the case, he always becomes a way to provide the viewer with all the information through the dialogue in the screenplay. The same can be said about environmental regulations, land lease, and the impact of rich businessmen on it. The facts show that the filmmakers thought about the topic, but the dialogue seems to be informative only.
The main drawback of Netflix’s Reporting Live film lies in the way it handles its danger sequences. Sandhya and Vinod put themselves into risky situations many times in the movie. They record suspicious activities and confront powerful people without disclosing anything to anyone. However, those scenes do not produce any suspense, as the staging and the characters’ decision-making make the investigation seem artificial. What is not the problem here is the characters’ readiness to take risks, but the lack of convincing preparation and consequences for those. The movie also relies heavily on stereotypical images of corrupt businessmen, scared villagers, and unscrupulous media executives.
Netflix Reporting Live Review: Summing Up
2026 Reporting Live movie has a topic worth examining; the struggle for power between the business corporation and journalism has the potential for a powerful movie. The fact remains, however, that its poor portrayal, uneven acting, and lack of credible investigative scenes constantly thwart this potential. In fact, I expected the movie to give me a sense of the struggle of an important story whose exposure the important people did not want at all costs. What I got, though, was simply a number of characters telling me how significant the job they were engaged in was.
