Love is divine! Love is devotion! Love is selfless!
“Meera: Ek Abhivachan” revisited the eternal and spiritual love of Meera with new perspectives. The theatrical story telling nudged us to question the long held narratives. What was Rana’s perspective and suffering? What was Krishna’s role?
Unique concept, beautiful bhajans, impeccable rendition and masterclass acting explored the relationship between Meera, Rana and Krishna. Cheers to actor / director Shri Priyank Upadhyay and actors Sushri Khushi Avashia and Shri Aman Kothari.
As Saiyaara celebrates love in Indian landscape, “Meera: Ek Abhivachan” brought a unique perspective of love and relationships.
Barzakh means a place in-between. The stage between death and resurrection. The kingdom between paradise and hell. Barzakh series is stuck between perfection and promise!
Barzakh is an ambitious web series of love, longing and loss from across the border. Beautifully composed on a canvas, awesomely shot in beautiful locales and an outstanding ensemble cast with superlative performances – Barzakh is wonderfully designed.
A super wealth patriarch Jafar invites his estranged sons for his third marriage to his first love Mahtab. It is just that Mahtab is dead, and Jafar believes she will meet him on the other side. His two sons have a difficult relationship with him while the villagers demand access to atrium of his palatial ‘Land Of Nowhere’ house.
Strained family ties, postpartum depression, challenges of caregiving, parenting issues, mental health, toxic patriarchy – all topics are showcased by rich characters. All this in the backdrop of red-draped fairies, pink souls with baggage, special girl and other supernatural themes.
Loved the Gibran Rumi type quotes, breathtaking Hunza valley, carefully crafted visuals and metaphor rich depictions. And of course, the superlative acting of the terrific trio of Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed and Salman Shahid! The Zindagi Gulzar Hai pair is adorable.
Yet, inspite of all its positives, it fails to make an impact and achieve its true potential – perhaps it is trying to achieve too much.
Barzakh is intelligent, brave, unique and highly creative. It grows on you and will stay with you – not every series can claim that!
Made In Heaven 2: Glam, Glitz & Grey – A Must Watch Iconoclastic Show !
Talk of the town! Solid writing, powerful performances, iconoclast acts, pastel weddings, designer clothes, beautiful brides, charming grooms, top notch production values – Made In Heaven Season 2 is a wonderful watch!
The template is simple: Each episode has a one or two weddings with an inherent issue or tension, ultra stylish weddings with magnificent clothes and uber themes and the ongoing life stories of ‘Made In Heaven’ wedding planning agency team members. Same sex coupling, Dalit wedding, Muslim wedding, Bollywood deal wedding, self wedding – all scenarios are covered to give the series a strong progressive and liberal credential! The beauty lies that these are not checklist issues, but many of them are handled with great nuance and sensitivity.
Shobhita continues her purple patch – taking her glam stylish svelte avatar of Kaveri (The Night Manager) to next level with more teeth, grit, vindictiveness and vulnerability. Impeccable is the word for Shobita! She is having a ball – “Money softens the blow! For the rest..there’s whisky”
Mona Singh’s Bulbul Johari is a stupendous act – the powerhouse performer unfolds her emotional journey as the series progresses. Whether asking the violence victim bride to stand up for herself or navigating the ‘locker room’ scandal of her teenage son, she is super impressive. She is a class apart! “Hearts of girls are won by respect and love, not force”.
Arjun Mathur is outstanding – he is messy, he is confused, he is fragile, he is choking, he is bottled up, he is struggling, he is guilty, he is victimised – touching portrayal of full range of emotions. His difficult relationship with mother, its impact on his psyche, his inability to open up to his partner, his mother’s death – highly moving! “Some of us are meant to travel alone!”
The biggest discovery and showstopper of the series is Trinetra Haldar – a doctor turned actor. The transwoman actor is exceptional – totally calm and poised as she steals the show playing herself! Full marks to the writers for giving a strong transgender character – a highest paid employee, totally accepted by parents. Trinetra’s Mehek deals with the shit with resilience, anchors her relationships with amazing maturity and loves having fun – “I want to go on a date, not give a TED talk!” I am sure we will see more of her in the days to come!
The show has a very impressive supporting cast – Kalki, Jim Sarbh, Vijay Raaz, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi. Vijay Raaz is a terrific as a feminist, not just a money bags. Watch him when he says – Dhindora pitiye!
The cameos are equally top notch – Fiery and nuclear Powered Radhika Apte, beautiful Mrunal Thakur, diva Dia Mirza, effervescent Sanjay Kapoor, classy Neelam Kothari, composed Samir Soni, charming Vikrant Massey, Neil, Imaad Shah and others!
Writers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Alankrita Shrivastava have done a fabulous job by creating rich characters with strong arcs and given each character a distinct identity. Directors Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar have roped in Nitya Mehra, Alankrita Shrivastava, and Neeraj Ghaywan as directors
The protagonist Ravi Shankar Tripathi is assigned a case of acid attack on a young Parul Chaturvedi, whose photo he has received recently for a marriage proposal. He is a son of progressive poet and teacher, who has offered to resign due to inability to adjust with the system. Still struggling at his job, he hunts for the culprit and comes across the deep-rooted opinions and perspectives of the people.
The deep rooted gender bias, patriarchy, misogyny, police system, toxicity, father-son’s difficult relationship, witch hunt of the victim – all are explored very emphatically as Pandora’s box opens slowly!
Performance par excellence by Vijay Varma – Heart and soul of the movie. The way he transforms himself while realising his limitations and inner demons is phenomenal. Equally rock solid performances by the entire cast. Special mention for Gopal Datt and Yashpal Sharma. Shweta Tripathi and Seema Biswas once again show their class – simply awesome.
Strong writing and sensitive direction. The music is wonderful and makes a great impact!
