– Taj Mahal 1989 (Netflix)
Directed by Pushpendra Nath Mishra, this humorous, quirky series delves into romantic relationships. The main couples here are philosophy professor Akhtar Baig (the marvelous Neeraj Kabi), his wife physics professor Sarita (Geetanjali Kulkarni), Baig’s college-mate Sudhakar (Danish Hussain) and his significant other Mumtaz (Sheeba Chaddha). There are also college students Angad Trivedi (Anud Singh Dhaka), Rashmi Malik (Anshul Chauhan), Dharam Awasthi (Paras Priyadarshan) who study, attend classes and intermittently fall in love.
This is an outstanding series overall, and features a fabulous cast. Director Mishra does an especially good job of recreating the time (1989) and locales of Lucknow – I grew nostalgic just seeing the A.H.Wheeler bookstands in the railway station scenes. I also loved that the characters would speak in to us in witty asides – quite fun! The soundtrack is gorgeous (and unfortunately not released), and the series features some very lovely poetry. What’s not to like?
– Jamtara (Netflix)
Jamtara is based on the real-life scams originating from Jamtara, Jharkhand. A group of young men use phishing techniques to defraud thousands of people, but then have to deal with corrupt politician Brajesh Bhan (Amit Sial – you probably saw him in Titli) who wants his share of the booty, and the intrepid young Superintendent of Police Dolly Sahu (Aksha Pardasny) who’s out to get them. Among the scammers are two brother Sunny (Sparsh Srivastav) and Rocky (Antihuman Pushkar). Sunny’s wife Gudiya (Monika Panwar – she also had a small role in Love Aaj Kal) is embroiled in the mess too, but for different reasons.
This intense and gritty series is directed by Soumendra Padhi. I look forward to Season 2!
– Laakhon Mein Ek (Prime)
Laakhon Mein Ek – Season 1 is written by comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath, whom you may also have seen on Prime Video’s Comicstaan. It apparently started as Biswa’s own story. Season 1 is about 10th standard student Aakash Gupta. When Raipur-based Aakash gets 55% in his exams his father ships him to Genius Infinity, an IIT coaching institute in Vishakhapatnam. There Aakash barely makes the cut and is placed in Section D, which is reserved for the students with the least scores.
Season 1 is beautifully made. The actors are a good fit, and actually match the ages of the youngsters they play – which is nice :). I look forward to Season 2 which has been released and features the fantastic Shweta Tripathi (who also starred in Mirzapur) as a doctor striving to do good work in a village.
