Exam review: Dushara Vijayan, Aditi Balan in a show short on answers

The title of Exam is a deliberate choice for the seven-episode series on Prime Video. You get to understand why when you are a few episodes in. Created by Pushkar and Gayathri, the Prime Video crime thriller comes at a time when the NEET UG 2026 paper leak hit the headlines. The show deals with a similar concept, and with a crime background.

DSP Maramalli (Aditi Balan), newly posted in Ooty's Thykara, gets kidnapped by Jhansi (Dushara Vijayan). She then impersonates Maramalli and is on a mission to crack a case in 10 days. The show then unravels a crime syndicate that exposes the scam around civil service exams. As Jhansi begins to unearth clues, it brings her closer to the mastermind of the scam.

The show begins by focussing on a family struggling financially. The mother, who earns her living by fishing, dies by swallowing one. Her only desire was to see her academically strong son secure a government job. The mother, however, sidelines her daughter, who has made peace with it. With subplots and some interesting twists, Exam tries to capture your attention over seven episodes of 30 minutes each.

Director Sarkunam's show has an interesting core and several subplots that could elevate the seven episodes into a compelling watch. The initial two episodes have a lot going on — a mother's death, a convict impersonating a DSP and a brewing exam scam. As the details are revealed one after another in the first three episodes, you are intrigued by what is coming up.

However, as the show approaches its third episode and the nature of the exam scam is revealed, you can easily guess how it will end. The remaining four episodes do not spring any surprises, as the twists and reveals are now merely performative and do not drive the story forward. It leaves you with an 'okay, what's next' feeling. In short, the show about an exam scam is short of papers to fill in its answers.

The show has Abbas, as a former cop who is now helping Jhansi impersonate a DSP. You get a backstory as to why he chose to end up on the other side of the law, but the character remains underutilised. Similarly, many of the subplots remain underdeveloped, which makes the show less impactful.

Dushara Vijayan plays his morally grey character to the best of her abilities. The way she tries to hold her cover and play the system that once wronged her makes Jhansi the most interesting character in the show. Aditi Balan's Maramalli, meanwhile, almost plays second fiddle alongside the other characters. We get a glimpse of her backstory, but it is too little compared to Jhansi's.

Exam had all the ingredients for a gripping crime thriller — a morally grey protagonist, a ripped-from-the-headlines premise and a promising setup. But like a student who runs out of time mid-paper, the show loses its way before it can deliver on its early promise. Exam is a show that had the right questions. It just did not have enough answers.