In Aarya Season 1, which brilliantly told the story of The Rise of The Phoenix, one thing was very firmly established. Aarya was Sushmita Sen, and Sushmita Sen was Aarya. Her career defining performance, Sushmita was Sen-sational the way she arrived. At one go, she nailed down the complex emotions of a wailing wife, a super protective mother, and vulnerable helpless human being who would do anything to protect the dignity of her immediate family, and fiercely guard her exposed children and self from anything that comes and harms them. And there was enough and more of evil engulfing her from all around waiting for any opportunity to get them, destroy them. By the end of Season 1, Aarya had won some battles, but those transient wins had given rise to more harmful antagonists and Aarya, with all her might, had thought that going away from all that would keep her family safe, give them the much needed peace they deserved and craved for. Aarya Season 2 picks up right from that point.

For all those who have been following Little Things for 3 seasons now know that it is a series that traces the little things and sweet nothings that Dhruv and Kavya share, a committed couple who have been in love and in a live in relationship for about 6 years now. The progression of the series, just like their journey, has been a sweet and bumpy ride of mixed bag moments. At times we get to know them as a couple deeply in love who are far more committed and caring than possibly what they would have been if married. At other times they come across as unsettled, unsure, scared of commitments, and way too distracted with what their own personal problems are, sometimes pulling them away from each other. Add to it the challenges of a long distance relationship, the issues surfacing with unhappy jobs, bruised egos, and fear of losing each other over distance, and the journey becomes even more tentative but very relatable. In a way we moved along with the ups and downs of Dhruv and Kavya over multiple seasons, and where we were left at the end of Season 3 left enough curiosity in us and enough flame alive in them to see where Season 4 and their final journey takes them to.

“Here’s to healing… In all its forms…”

Masaba Masaba is that chilled out show that Netflix had always promised through its tag line!

Experimental and edgy, lighthearted and liberated, funny and fresh, the show never thinks twice to make fun of the pompous and pretty world it sets itself in, and yet lends itself authenticity in the way it draws from such genuine moments of affection and care between the mother and the daughter.

Subah ki kirnon ko roke jo salaakhein hain kahaan…
Jo khayalon pe pehre daale.. Woh aankhein hain kahaan…
Par khulne ki deri hain.. Parinde udd ke jhoomenge…
Aasman aasman aasman…..

It is fascinating how filmmaker Asim Abbasi‘s new ten part Pakistani web series on Zee5 called Churails borrows seamlessly from Amitabh Bhattacharya’s poetry to string together a montage of courage for a group of fearless women in Karachi; each of whom have lost so much in a journey to discover treacherous personal truths, unearth the ugliest secrets of their existence; but have eventually found peace with themselves. It is the common annhilating pain that has worked like a invincible bond between them to stand for each other, and give them the courage to fight for themselves and for a world of other suffering women around them brutalized systemically by a glitteringly perfect world of class, aristocracy and elegance.

“Dukan phir se khul rahi hai…”

As Aarya Sareen raises a toast in anger, helplessness, fear and utmost strength during her party, Sushmita Sen basically announces back to the entire world boldly that she is back in the business and how! Without any doubts, it is the most definitive performance of her career, and she nails down the complex concoction of a varied range of emotions of Aarya in every single scene. This is classic Sushmita Sen at her resilient, fearless, terrified, graceful and affectionate best, and helps raising an already solid writing of a highly engaging show to the next level. Sushmita with Aarya, and Aarya with Sushmita, flies and soars, in all her shades of a mourning wife, a helpless but super protective mother, a smart and sharp thinker, a vulnerable woman, and a go getter, never losing her focus or poise in her messy and challenging journey.

Continue reading “AARYA : The Rise of the Phoenix” →

The new season of Little Things, that takes forward the journey of Dhruv and Kavya on a more grounded and realistic journey, grows wider in perspective and leaves behind deeper impressions. Unlike the previous seasons that dealt more with the live-in couple exploring life with and in each other, this time around life takes them long distance, and that possibly gives them a breather to look outward, rediscover themselves in their individual worlds, take them back to their roots on what shaped them to be the people they are today, and find their own happy places and comfort zones. That doesn’t mean though that the show achieves that at the expense of the chemistry between Dhruv and Kavya. If anything, we only find them more matured and stronger to handle spaces, people and things of past and present that life has offered them over time, that in turn make them more lovable individually and together.

Continue reading “LITTLE THINGS S3 : Wide Perspectives, Deep Impressions” →