233. Web-series Reviews – 79

More web-series reviews…

Gullak 3 – Came out in 2022. 

One of the reviews from Desimartini...

When I watched the first season of Gullak, it took me back to the good old simple days where we found happiness in smaller things. It was easy to miss their big problems because each episode came with a happy ending, which left you with a smile and overshadowed the issues of this middle-class family. Well, the Mishra parivaar is back with season 3 and while they are still as entertaining as the previous seasons, life has become tougher for them. But with bigger problems, we get even more interesting stories which prove that the greatest strength of this family is not money but their love for each other. Read on to know why Gullak 3 is a must watch.

Season 3 begins where season 2 ended-- after emerging as the topper of his school Aman, portrayed by Harsh Mayar, is now gearing up for 11th standard whereas Annu, played by Vaibhav Raj Gupta, is now a salesman on the payroll. Meanwhile Santosh Mishra and Shanti Mishra, aka Jameel Khan and Geetanjali Kulkarni, are dealing with a new concern - Aman’s admission fees. Well, the good news is that there is a new savings account in the house so things are definitely going to get easier with some unexpected complications on the way. Another exciting news is that now along with Bittu ki Mummy, played by Sunita Rajwar, audiences have finally been introduced to Bittu who wants to become a social media sensation but is too good a dancer.

Let’s begin with the characters - they are as endearing as you could remember. The best thing about the Mishra parivaar is that the more you watch them, the more involved you get in their lives and start thinking of them as your extended family. While you smile when you see Shanti smile, your heart breaks when Annu is unable to buy the suspension shoes he had been yearning to buy with his first salary. These actors are incredibly talented performers who live their characters on screen with utter perfection. Coming to the storyline - just like the previous seasons this time also we get to hear new ‘kisse’ (stories). But makers have now taken a more intense turn. The problems of this middle-class family are increasing but their support for one another and the love between them makes you believe they will come out stronger. But will they?

Apart from heartwarming sequences, dialogues which tickle your funny bone and scenes which make you fall in love with the members of the family, this time Gullak gives us some shocking twists which bring your heart to your mouth. The show gives you a deeper look into what many middle-class families of our country suffer. It feels like the makers wanted to take one step out of their comfort zone of comedy to give us the taste of dark reality, and well, they succeeded. There were some scenes which felt like they were dragging on for too long. But when you sit and watch this series with your full attention, it consumes you.

Final thoughts-- This series does not belong in the thriller genre, nor are there any star-crossed lovers waiting to be reunited. No crimes are being solved and no deadly games are played. But it is still incredibly gripping and leaves you wanting more. In every way, Gullak is a masterpiece. The characters, the story and our beloved narrator - oh how much we missed them. A true delight! So go watch it now and then join us as we eagerly wait for season 4.

My Take - Not to be missed😊!  If you have still not seen it, binge watch all the three seasons!!

 

Anantham – Came out in 2022.  Tamil series. Also available in Hindi!

One of the reviews from Cinemaexpress...

An endearing series, despite the blemishes. The series is made with a lot of heart, and it shows everywhere, including in the endearing performances

Imagine a grandmother, mother and daughter falling in love with the same man and all of them sharing the same house. Pretty creepy, right? Yet, I felt no such discomfort while watching an entire segment based on this idea in Anantham. Despite all the potential for darkness, the story chooses light by embracing the idea of unconventional love. Through the segment, Krishnan Menon, director Priya shows us how with the right gaze, taboo tales can actually be heart-warming and fun.

This sensitivity of the filmmaker is apparent across all the episodes of this part hyper-link, part anthology series. Though Anantham is predominantly a tale of victims, it never tries to milk their ordeals. Instead, it gives us a window seat into their minds and shows us the power of helplessness and how it can devour people, period and place notwithstanding.

Anantham is a story of the house, in the house, and narrated by the house. The tale spans five decades, with each episode becoming a genre of its own. Romance, tragedy, comedy or even horror, you name it… this series, a compilation of simple tales with a novel take, has it. For instance, the segment Parvathy is a story of a child abuse survivor who ends up meeting her abuser. A usual narrative would have you focus on the abuse or the suffering of the survivor, but Priya instead throws light on the familial ecosystem that made the child a victim and the passive aggression that silenced her. Interestingly, the story ends with some gratifying violence. There is even time for a twist. Similarly, in the segment Lalitha, a murderer is chased by past demons, but to her son, she remains the noblest soul on earth.

The series is made with a lot of heart, and it shows everywhere, including in the endearing performances. Two actors who stand out are Amrutha Srinivasan and Vinoth Kishan, talents who need to be celebrated more. Special mention also to Prakashraj's effortless portrayal of seventy-five-year-old Venkatesan and the ever-dependable Vinodhini Vaidyanathan's impeccable comical prowess.

This bed of roses isn't free of thorns. Anantham’s setbacks come in the form of the segments, Rekha and Maragatham, which melodramatically keep speaking about the magical goodness of the house. Not much happens in these stories and the characters too have precious little to do. 

During a crucial moment in the series, Prakashraj's Venkatesan speaks of the importance of dying without regret or guilt; he thinks of it as the perfect ending. Likewise, the climax of a story and the emotion it leaves you with is equally important. Unfortunately, Anantham bypasses its golden moment for the conclusion and instead chooses to leave us with an ineffective cliffhanger. Well, at least, Venkatesan gets a satisfying end.

My Take - A worthwhile watch!

 

Guilty Minds – Came out in 2022. 

One of the reviews from Times of India...

STORY: Two starkly opposite legal firms battle it out in the courts in an array of cases. While one is led by a young girl, who believes in the power of truth the other law firm is sold on ensuring their clients win at any cost. Who will finally triumph in this war for justice?

REVIEW: ‘Guilty Minds’ opens with an episode of a leading actress Mala (Karishma Tanna) suing a powerful filmmaker for rape. He is the one who launched her, but after a starlet accuses him of sexual assault, Mala musters up the courage to expose him. It’s a plot that has played out so many times in Bollywood and Hollywood for real and the show borrows generously from such incidents. In the pilot, we are introduced to the key characters of this episodic legal drama. On one hand is Kashaf Quaze (Shriya Pilgaonkar) – the daughter of a sitting Supreme Court judge, who runs a modest legal firm along with her friend Vandana (Sugandha Garg) and it’s built on the principles of truth. And on the other hand, there’s Deepak Rana (Varun Mitra) – a shrewd and conniving rising star of a leading law firm led by LN Khanna (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), the patriarch of the Khanna family. They believe in serving their client’s interests at any cost. As this episodic legal drama progresses, we see them tackle different cases in each episode along with their interpersonal relationships.

It’s an interesting concept somewhat on the lines of ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘Suits’ but much less complicated and over-simplified. A new plotline in every episode makes for an interesting watch and director Shefali Bhushan and her team of writers try to balance it with the goings-on in the lives of their central characters. They succeed to an extent, but it slows down the pace of this show, which could have been more hard-hitting and power-packed. It also comes with the inherent problem of having just too many characters, tracks and subplots that run concurrently. But clearly, the screenplay is the strongest when the action shifts to the courtrooms.

What works is the wide variety of the cases that the makers pick in each of their episodes. From a high-profile sexual assault case to a teenage murderer, who is addicted to the violent mobile games of today. And from big cola companies sucking out water from drought-stricken villages to the injustice that women face in their corporate lives. Each story has an exciting premise and social subtext to it that is relevant but not strikingly real. This is because the way these cases are pitched in the court is too straight-jacketed and convenient in how it eventually gets solved at the end of the episode.

Shriya Pilgaonkar and Varun Mitra are aptly cast as young legal eagles on the two sides of their belief spectrum. They do a fine job of convincing the viewer in what they believe in. Sugandha Garg stands out as a practical and wise young lawyer, who doesn’t mind bending the rules to get justice for the weak. There are some clichés in chracterisations just to make the show more urbane and inclusive of different choices, but they also hold a mirror to the diversity in our modern society. The realistic setting of the courtroom scenes and Delhi’s city life is well-captured.

Overall, ‘Guilty Minds’ is not layered and complex for the cases it tackles, but it’s surely a well-made ensemble. Add to that some decent performances and engaging stories in each episode make for a binge-worthy watch.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!

 

Bandon Mein Tha Dum – Duration: 45-50 minutes per episode (Total four episodes)

Director: Neeraj Pandey. Cast: Cricketers, Journalists.

Test cricket, no doubt, is the absolute pinnacle of the sport. Though the introduction of T20 has seen the popularity of the game soar to new levels, players universally regard Test cricket as the toughest format to succeed in.

There are series that live long in the memory of the cricket fanatics. And to relive one such moment, Neeraj Pandey, who had previously made 'M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story', has delivered yet another cracker of a production, the docu-series 'Bandon Mein Tha Dum' on the Indian cricket team's memorable Test series against Australia in 2020/21, when they showed real resilience and courage to overcome odds and win the series, despite being short of resources.

The series succeeds in reliving the historic moments with the help of archival footage and recollections of some of the key players and cricket journalists. It takes the audience inside the pavilion via candid interviews with Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant, and others.

Among the cricketers, Ashwin stood out because of his articulation, spontaneity and sense of humour. In Episode 3, which is all about the Sydney Test and there is a dialogue -- "If it meant dying, I would rather die" -- in which the off-spinner modulates his tone according to the unfolding situation, where he was battling severe back pain.

On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara, like his batting, narrates his side of the story without much fuss. There is a sequence in the final episode, which features Pujara taking brutal blows on his body. The shots and angles, depicted in that particular moment in the series, are so real that one can almost feel the ball colliding with his chest.

There are various sequences of Ajinkya Rahane, who was the protagonist-in-chief during that series in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, in which he reveals about his game plans and thought processes behind making certain decisions. But the frame of the run-out involving Rahane and Virat, when both were batting smoothly in Adelaide, comes as a painful flashback.

"The moment it happened, I somehow got the feeling that it would cost us the game," says an emotional Rahane. That run-out moment also appears immediately after Rahane's redemption hundred in Melbourne following the Adelaide debacle. At the end of the final episode, he is shown wiping a tear.

The rest of the Indian players -- Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Rishabh Pant -- try to be earnest. Pant makes an honest admission that he was quite sad that India drew the Sydney Test. "A draw is a draw and win is a win," he says philosophically. "A draw is never the same as a win."

There is a teary Siraj when India's national anthem is being played and he remembers his late father. Another scene shows the pacer looking heavenward after picking his first five-for in Test cricket. On the other hand, Hanuma Vihari is shown saying that his mother told him that the "purpose of his life has been served" after the grit and determination he showed in Sydney to save the Test for India.

The docu-series has maintained a fine balance between events and characters and is not too melodramatic. One can argue whether a cricket-based documentary should be more dramatic or not, especially when the sport itself comes laden with so much emotion.

The four-episode series could have been a bit more engaging as sometimes it gives the feeling of repeating what has been said and read multiple times. Neeraj Pandey has had experience of directing a sports biopic, so the audience could justifiably expect a bit more engagement from his side. Actor Jimmy Shergill has done a brilliant job as the narrator for the series.

Overall, "Bandon Mein Tha Dum' is worth a watch for people who are suckers for good sports-based entertainment and want to relive the moments from the Ultimate Test Series Down Under.

My Take – A definitive watch!

Cheers till next time😊

Daffy Definition

Language – Something we thought we handled well until we had to send a telegram (for old timers😊!!)