The wait has ended and we now get to witness the first episode of the newly-released web series, Queen, jointly directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and Prasath Murugesan. Initially speculated to be based on the life history of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Queen, based on the novel, The Queen, is inspired from the true events over the course of the former stateswoman's life. The theme of the series is positive and motivating with the plot set from Shakthi’s (Ramya Krishnan) point of view.

The first episode of MX Player’s original series, showcases the school life of Shakthi played by Anikha Surendran of Yennai Arindhaal fame. Her character is strongly established and is one who is extremely straight-forward and outperforms in everything she comes across.

The opening episode also lays emphasis on the dark side of her life, the difficulty within her house and sheds light on the relationship she shared with her mother, portrayed by Sonia Agarwal. She is the right choice to play the mother role and perfectly suits the character as her presence and performance are natural. However, the lead character (Shakthi), shines high as the drama gets more intense and is inspiring as she comes out with flying colors amidst all odds. The ending is solid and there is a small play in the edit which makes it better.

On the technical front, there are no faults in the quality and no compromises have been made in the making as the set work takes us back to the 1960s. Darbuka Siva has made the product musically impressive. Visuals are refreshing, but a different color pallet could have been chosen for the 60s portions considering a majority of the plot is set in the said time period. In addition, the English dialogue delivery feels slightly monotonous at certain places.

The first episode has been directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and in overall is highly impressive in many aspects and generates plenty of curiosity within us to witness the forthcoming drama in Shakthi’s life. The base for the upcoming episodes has been beautifully set and we now have quite a lot to look forward to in the days ahead. The story of Queen will be shown across a total of 10 episodes and begins streaming from December 14.