“Escaype Live,” a Disney Hotstar show, is an Indian series based on the premise that any everyday citizen can rise to the top of fame and win a grand prize of an amount that appears incredible but has a dangerous cost attached to it. It becomes costly to obtain. When each character discovers their strength and element, “Escaype Live,” a live streaming application, finds a way to limit the amount of money these ordinary people earn, turning things very sour and leaving everyone destitute.
Krishna Ranganathan is a new employee at “Escaype Live,” a live streaming software that allows its users to earn money from the Livestream content they create. In exchange, they split the revenues from “diamonds” received by each Livestream follower. Because Krishna is the moderator, he changes the game when the founders question the app’s and company’s moral grounding when the life of a little girl is in jeopardy. Let’s take a look at how Krishna navigates the treacherous sea of the app named “Escaype Live.”
Spoilers Ahead
How Do Common People Become Contestants on a Live Streaming App called “Escaype Live”?
Krishna is a staunch conservative with impeccable values. When he joins a new team of moderators to oversee specific live streams on the app, his techniques are called into question when he bans Hina, a woman who enjoys seducing men and teasing them with her body. She always hides her true identity behind a mask. This not only protects her but also allows her to continue living her life without fear of moral repercussions if someone sees her in real life or on the Livestream.
Krishna’s supervisor is Jia Khan, a woman with a keen business acumen who works around the clock to ensure that the app runs well at all times. “Escaype Live” pits ordinary people against one another in a battle to gather the biggest number of followers to climb up a ranking system and earn a prize of 3 crore rupees with the most diamonds (Rs 5 per diamond, which is split between the company and the contestant or account holder).
The software seeks out people who are largely determined to win and exploits their on-screen validation to make money, but the contestants bear the brunt of the negative consequences. Some people disintegrate under pressure, some become famous, and others disobey the law and get arrested.
A boy with the screen name Dark Angel, also known as Darkie, is a psychopathic adult who lives on the streets and alters his life on the spur of the moment. He is calculating with no boundaries and there is no one to hold him accountable. Raju works as an ordinary banker, but he has another side that no one knows about, and Escaype Live is his haven where he exists as another entity living the way he wants.
Rani is a little girl from a small village in Rajasthan who wishes the entire world to see how talented she is at dancing. Nilesh, also known as Aamcha Spider, is a humble youngster from the city’s slums who excels at the sport of parkour jumping and climbing. When he goes too far with stunts that he expected would help him move up the rank system, his story has a different ending than he had hoped for.
When the app’s creators decide to set these people against each other in a 30-day challenge, the extent to which they go will either thrust them into uncharted territory or lead them to meet utterly unforeseen outcomes. Each character’s fortitude is tested to the point that they reach a breaking point from which it is difficult to recover. When one of the girls is in danger, Krishna’s concerns are realized, and everyone scrambles to save her. Will they be able to assist every one of these competitors? Will they save the very individuals from whom they profit? What is their true motivation behind all of this? What will happen if the contestants do not win?
What Drives The Contestants To Achieve Their 30-Day Challenge?
With money acting as a deadly incentive, each competitor grows increasingly curious about how to obtain such a vast sum of money while life throws them every conceivable stumbling block. When the truth about some dark aspects of people’s personalities comes to light, each competitor finds a way to overcome their inner demons. Some are captured on-camera, while others are found off-camera. With these incentives, the founders and board members of the “Escaype Live” app, who ravage innocent people’s lives with no intention of repairing any damage, are the only ones who remain undamaged.
Raju is a banker who is well-liked by everyone at his workplace. Everything changes when he meets Sunaina, a girl who helps him lead a life that is normal according to his specific needs. His father is a professor who hopes he decides to marry and settle after he receives a promotion and a larger salary. Sunaina develops a bond with him after poking him a little to get him to talk to her, and she quickly learns that he has no plans to marry. Raju wants to tell her the real reason, to which she is oblivious. Sunaina is taken aback when she discovers that Raju is Meena Kumari, dressed as a lady and singing in the most beautiful voice when she downloads the “Escaype Live” link.
Dark Angel, also known as Darkie, is motivated by his need to survive at all costs under the terms and conditions he establishes, no matter the cost. Bablu, or Darkie, has a tumultuous background that keeps him on the run and homeless, hoping he will never be apprehended by the authorities. Darkie expresses his desire to live in a luxurious mansion to his followers. Dhruv, a boy of the same age, stakes an invite to his home, and Darkie zeroes in on him. When Darkie moves in, Dhruv’s parents are concerned about his presence, and matters worsen when a party occurs, and Dhruv argues with Darkie. Dhruv slips over a glass bottle when they are fighting on the balcony. He falls to his desth, and his parents arrive in time to find his body, but Darkie flees, leaving his manager Tashi in a state of shock.
Rani enters a dance competition at the tender age of eight, and the judges are taken aback. They tell her she’s still a child and will have to wait a little longer to dance like an adult. Haunted by these remarks, her mother’s brother, Uncle Nandu, comes to her aid, claiming to have her begin taking injections that will help her develop a womanly body. Even though it is a risky and costly venture, Rani goes ahead with it. Rani’s father is opposed to her dancing, but with Nandu by her side, Rani always manages to find a way. She passes out after a particular performance on the dunes.
Nilesh, also known as Aamcha Spider, is a daredevil adolescent who hopes to establish a reputation for himself with the app and his followers. Even though he is more gifted than Darkie, he is unable to compete with Darkie’s fan base. This enrages him, and he resorts to a fairly severe method of gaining disciples. Nilesh is an honest boy with an alcoholic father until he spits on a piece of cheese he has to pack for a customer who criticizes him, and he loses his job. When he learns of competition with cash prizes, his goals shift. He attempts a stunt on a crane atop a 40-story building, but things go wrong when he loses his balance and falls onto a pile of concrete blocks hurting his spine and a vicious gash on his forehead.
Hina is employed at an Asian restaurant in Bangalore. Her live feeds are popular with men who don’t have any lust in their lives. She wears a mask to hide her true identity while teasing and mocking her settings and costumes. Mala, a female dominatrix and in-the-closet homosexual woman married to a man, is her restaurant boss. Hina is battling how to keep herself safe while attempting to earn enough money to travel overseas when she is raped by Mala.
She is powerless to stop Mala from convincing Hina’s mother that her daughter has taken money from the restaurant and abruptly quit. What can Hina do to change her situation and make the stakes bend in her favor with so much at stake? She devises a winning approach, but it comes at a high price. What does the company do to assist the candidates in achieving their prize when they begin to triumph slowly and stay on track to the big win? Is it the contestant’s capacity to win the reward that matters, or the ability of the app’s founders to control everything from the backend?
How Does “Escaype Live” Bring Their Contestants Back When Things Go Wrong?
“Escaype Live” has the resources to keep a big crew of moderators on hand to keep an eye on all events and ensure that no one abuses the rules. There will be no alcohol, drugs, or smoking. Krishna forbids Hina from stripping while she is on the verge of doing so. When Jia notices this, she becomes enraged and instructs Krishna to unblock her, placing him in an embarrassing position because Hina would scold him in front of the entire crew the next time she goes live.
Krishna gradually begins to feel uncomfortable in the company of those around him. When the company plans to have Dance Rani compete with Hina, several ethical opinions of dissent arise. When Hina sits and admires Dance Rani’s persistence and effort, she permits Dance Rani to win one round. Krishna has a sudden change of heart and decides to contact Hina after learning that the corporation has stopped allowing individuals to spend in the form of diamonds.
Krishna keeps a laptop on hand in case the company’s locker room and hacks into the backend, and he discovers a means to access it because the moderators have limited access. He has the upper hand because of his knowledge of software engineering, and he sets the record straight. After that, the corporation continues to push the limits, raising several ethical red flags. He tries to form a bond with Hina and falls in love with her. He notices that she goes by the name Mala in the chat window, and Hina continues the game of letting Krishna believe she is Mala.
When Nilesh’s crane stunt goes wrong, he wakes up in the hospital with stitches and tells his father that he despises him for always being drunk while dismissing his aims and dreams. When the “Escaype Live” team calls him to ask why he hasn’t been using the app, he says he’s been in a horrific accident. The team demands that he return and inform his admirers that he is fine, but when he does, his fans taunt him and demean him, only to make him slice his wrists. His father intervenes and admits that he attempted something similar many years ago but found fulfillment in his wife and child. Nilesh finally sees the light and hugs his parents.
Rani is having many issues physically due to the injections, which suggest they are increasing her pheromone levels and making her body more voluptuous or more adult-like. With this imbalance, Rani’s vanity levels rise, and her uncle feeds it while avoiding the mother and father. When Rani stops coming online because her father takes her phone away in a fit, things go south very quickly. Rani has a secret online admirer named Lova Lova. She believes he is genuine, and he demands to meet her. While trying to get away from the chaos that has broken out in the village, she takes off to go meet him because she feels she has found love. Little does she or the “Escaype Live” team know that things are about to turn very sour for everyone involved.
What Does Krishna Ranganathan Do To Make Sure The Right Contestant Wins?
Krishna and Jia do not agree on everything, which is a challenge for Krishna. He does, however, learn to keep beneath the radar. When things get tense, Krishna takes on the form of an angel in the shadows and tries to save certain candidates. Krishna hacks into the backend to find Hina’s whereabouts when she has to be found. It takes him a long time to decide to go to her personally.
When Hina is conversing with Krishna, she gives him a different name. She introduces herself as Mala. This becomes an intriguing twist that leads to the most surprising conclusion. Mala is afraid of any copies made after Hina threatened her by taping her and assaulting her. Mala isolates Hina from her roommate and locks her up in an apartment with unfettered access to her whenever she wants.
Hina, on the other hand, must break her habit and begin preparing her escape. Hina requires assistance from someone in the “Escaype Live” backend, which she finds in Krishna. She takes full advantage of the situation. She befriends him under a different name, and he is duped. Hina makes a plea to Krishna when she gets a hotel suite and performs on her videos to earn diamonds, and he responds by hacking into the backend and allowing her diamonds to go through when the system throws up a bug and stops it.
Krishna has the impression that he has a crush who likes him. His insides will churn with the truth. The backend team is alerted of the hack when Krishna releases Hina’s diamonds, and they track it back to him. Jia discovers this and gives him an ultimatum, stating that there is still work to be done.
Raju comes out to his father, who has started drinking, and things quickly spiral out of control. It’s the last day of the 30-day challenge, and he’s been thrown out of his residence. Due to the absence of all other contenders, the final match is between Hina and Raju’s on-screen avatar, Meena Kumari. Raju’s close friend Sunaina, who is the only person who knows his secret, encourages him to do it once and for all. He musters the courage and does so. He has a large crowd dancing and singing with him below him.
Meena Kumari comes out of the closet live on camera near the end of the song and announces that she is a transwoman. While Hina is continuing in the act, the crowd becomes enraged, and his diamonds begin to dwindle, and she wins. When Meena Kumari announces the winner at the last minute, everyone is taken aback. When Hina decides to unmask herself and reveal her actual identity to the world, the males in the room are ecstatic. Hina’s end is approaching, and it’s not what she expected.
‘Escaype Live’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Does The Game Save Dance Rani?
After Dhruv’s death, Darkie is on the run. He merely wants to win the competition, and to do so, he must remain alive. Dhruv’s parents hire a female inspector to track him down, but the investigation gets off to a rocky start. How will he be identified without an identity or an Aadhar card? They conduct their investigation and discover that Darkie murdered his father when he was a child for preventing him from playing video games. He had always been a tough child who had murderous intent on a whim. This has everyone on edge, and he must now be located quickly.
Tashi, Darkie’s manager, is located. Now that Darkie’s account on the app has been frozen and the funds have not been sent to him, he demands money. Darkie, who still has some extra cash, demands it from Tashi. Tashi claims he’ll give it to him but then flees, and Darkie chases him down, only to run into the Female Inspector, who chases him towards the opposite direction. She apprehends him, but he manages to escape and flee. After losing him, the female inspector realizes she must alter her technique to catch him.
Following Dhruv’s death, Darkie resolves to go after the person he believes is still Number 1 in the app’s standings. He pursues Dance Rani by creating a fake profile with the screen name Lova Lova, which the backend team discovers in due time, and then mimics the profile to make it appear as if it were his actual profile. Rani can’t believe her eyes when she sees Lova Lova. She recognizes him, but she keeps it to herself. Darkie takes command and drives her away, but Rani is afraid. She puts up a fight when he takes her phone away and offers her another one to log into, but when they’re together, she acts like she is okay.
When he stops the car and is about to arrange for their Live stream, she takes off. She lies down to recover after falling and injuring herself, but Darkie catches up with her and binds her up till sundown. He goes live and terrorizes the Board of Directors, Jia, and the company’s CEO. Jia tries to persuade her CEO that it is their moral and civic duty to provide the police with the phone’s GPS location so that they can apprehend the youngster. However, the CEO declines. Krishna interjects, objecting to his beliefs and warning them that if they do not act now, they will be haunted by guilt for the rest of their lives. The youngster is a helpless child who deserves to be saved.
Jia decides to take matters into her own hands. Since they are in lockdown, she convinces the CEO that everyone should be permitted to make phone calls. However, each person is limited to one call at the reception desk, which is recorded by the company. Krishna is the first to call his uncle, instructing him in code language all of the information regarding Darkie and the location of Dance Rani. His uncle soon puts the pieces together and summons the female inspector in search of Darkie. She arrives soon at the location where Darkie and Rani are, and a dark chase follows. The Female Inspector fires at Darkie, who flees, and Rani is later discovered alive in a couple of bushes.
Hina has made a vow to herself that she must keep. She has to show her actual self. Krishna is humiliated after attempting to see her and chat with her with a bouquet, and he walks away heartbroken and perplexed. When Mala shows up there a few minutes later, Karma discovers Hina and they have a nasty fight. Mala seizes Hina’s computer and flees. Hina’s live stream returns by a miracle, and Hina performs her regular dance and removes her mask. We never see her face, but this just means that there will be another season after this one.
Final words
If you take ethics and morals out of the equation, “Escaype Live” is a fun show to watch. Disgusting and poisonous at its core, one would have a lot of concerns about why such a show was made with no substance at all. It makes you uncomfortable on every level, hurting many and diverse sensibilities about children, abuse, scandal, and even the LGBTQ area, which demands a more compassionate approach. With OTT platforms having such a strong influence on today’s youngsters, you’d think that something along those lines would be created to promote good things and more progressive viewpoints.
Some characters pop off the screen, while others breathe life into the plot. However, as a general rule, if you have anything better to do with 9 hours of your life, please go ahead and do it. For the most part, it’s revolting and disturbing. While some endings are disappointing, others should have been a resounding victory. The finale raises a lot of questions. What happens now that Jia has discovered Krishna is the hacker? Will Krishna figure out a way to save his sister from a shady video recording? Is Darkie alive or dead? There will be a second season, and it is not one that we are looking forward to unless they correct the course.
“Escaype Live” is a 2022 Drama Thriller Series Streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
