India, March 20 -- Sometimes ambition is not enough. Even good intent is not enough to salvage a story that does not know its own pulse. Such is the case with the new SonyLiv series Jazz City. From the large, expansive frames to the many little paths this story takes to navigate a turbulent time of national importance, I see how much has gone into making the show. But that does not help its case, or for creator Soumik Sen, as the show remains inert despite its full-blown capacity, incurious despite all the concoction of different factors, and mostly, out of depth even with so much space to fill. Jazz City holds promise, but it seems like that is everything it can hold after all.

Spread across 10 hour-long episodes, Jazz City starts off w...