Review: Mira, Royal Detective “A Royal Detective Mystery; The Mystery of the Missing Crown”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

“A Royal Detective Mystery”:

Mira, Chikku, and Mikku are excited to join Queen Shanti and her special guest, Detective Gupta for tea. When they arrive, Mira expresses her admiration for the former Royal Detective’s work. He, in turn, is delighted to hear she has questions for him.

Queen Shanti and Prince Neel join them for tea, and the Queen asks Gupta how long he’ll be in Jalpur. He explains he’s just passing through, on a journey to find Champa Falls. Mira asks him about an unsolved mystery, a hidden treasure in the hills above Jalpur. Mikku wonders if it might be a tower of laddus, while Chikku hopes for a giant fountain of mango lassi. Gupta doubts the mongooses food-centric guesses, but may have his own quest aided by solving this mystery.

“The Mystery of the Missing Crown”:

Mira, Mikku, and Chikku ponder a wanted poster with Deputy Oosha. Queen Shanti leaves for the day. The Queen places Prince Veer in charge in her absence.

The crown prince takes this opportunity to show off the elaborate headpiece he’ll wear as king. Some goat herders loose control of their flock, causing a distraction. When the group returns, they discover Prince Veer’s crown is missing. Can Mira find it before Queen Shanti returns?

Our take:

One thing I’ve embarrassingly failed to mention about this series so far is the thoroughly impressive soundtrack. The catchy theme song features Kal Penn and Utkarsh Ambudkar singing in character as Mikku and Chikku with Zakir Hussain on tabla. Music consultant Deepak Ramapriyan (of Basmati Blues fame) and Amritha Vaz (well known for her fantastic work on Miss India America) work together to infuse the score with enchanting sitar drones and tabla beats.

The score perfectly enhances the mood and lends cultural depth to the show’s setting, while also boasting enough flexibility to accompany delightful onscreen moments. A prime example is when Detective Gupta (voiced by Never Have I Ever‘s Iqbal Theba) joins Mira for her “We’re on the Case” song and dance during “A Royal Detective Mystery”.

While the recurrent themes and songs lend familiarity to each episode, there’s also room for variation to highlight new moments. When Prince Veer vows to hunt down the bandits in “The Mystery of the Missing Crown”, an emphatic percussion moment underscores his determination.

Visually, this week’s episodes are as fantastic as ever. Particularly gorgeous is the reveal of Champa Falls in all their glory, as well as the hillsides featuring stylized mango mehndi designs leading up to it.

One odd point artistically is that the character’s heads seem to be getting an extra dose of squash and stretch in “The Mystery of the Missing Crown”. Prince Veer’s movements in particular seem to be going overboard with exaggeration, and while it’s not enough to look truly unnatural, it was a bit distracting at times. Hopefully it’ll be toned back down in future episodes.