Modern Love Hyderabad web series Review: A heartfelt nod to old-world charm of the city- Cinema express
There’s something about Hyderabad that’s inexplicably alluring for an outsider like me. Is it the moments of shared silences between the din of a bustling metropolitan metropolis? Is it the waft of fragrances of the assorted sorts of meals which are reasonably very distinctive to town of pearls? Is it that fascinating lingo that’s largely Telugu however with a good smattering of Hindi and Urdu? Or is it within the awkward heat embrace from a metropolis that’s each welcoming and distant on the identical time? After profitable stints in New York and Mumbai, the Fashionable Love bandwagon makes its subsequent pitstop within the metropolis of Hyderabad and brings with it six tales that cope with the assorted shades of Pyaar, Prema and Kaadhal.
To ascertain the sequence in Hyderabad, it’s spectacular how the makers did not need to go along with the common photographs of Charminar however determined to discover town a bit additional. We see the Buddha statue of Hussain Sagar lake. There’s a Jandhyala movie competition changing into an essential plot level, and so is the standup comedy scene within the metropolis. There are Muslim characters who’re concerned within the narrative with out being relegated to tokenist roles. We’re made conscious of town’s wealthy meals heritage and implores us to look previous the Biriyani. Nonetheless, barring a couple of scenes within the ‘Why did you permit me right here?’ (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor) and ‘My unlikely pandemic dream associate’ (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor) shorts, Fashionable Love: Hyderabad is ready in a largely upmarket a part of town that nearly screams Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills from each body onscreen. Whereas it is not improper to only painting the luxurious facet of town, the shortage of range within the setting of those tales paints a reasonably one-note image of the romance in Hyderabad. It would not assist that the tales aren’t domestically sourced, and the titles too are… effectively, too English for a Telugu sequence.
Administrators: Nagesh Kukunoor, Uday Gurrala, Devika Bahudhanam, Venkatesh Maha
Forged: Revathy, Nithya Menen, Ritu Varma, Aadhi Pinisetty, Malavika Nair, Suhasini Maniratnam, Komalee Prasad, Naresh Babu
The sequence begins off with its strongest chapter, ‘My unlikely pandemic dream associate’ and in contrast to its convoluted title, the quick is reasonably simple. An estranged mom Mehrunnisa (Revathy) and daughter Noori (Nithya Menen) discover solace in one another’s firm after they’re compelled to spend time with one another throughout the lockdown. In truth, this feminine solidarity is a recurring theme in Fashionable Love: Hyderabad, and it’s a refreshing change to see the feminine protagonists flip to their girlfriends to speak about their lives, and discover methods to get out of sticky conditions. We see it occur between Renu (Ritu Varma) and her pal Nazneen in ‘Fuzzy, Purple, and filled with thorns‘ (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor). It’s much more pronounced within the shorts — About that rustle within the bushes (Devika Bahudhanam) and Discovering your Penguin (Venkatesh Maha) — the place the largely male bonding tropes of chugging down a drink and sharing their issues are performed by sturdy and impartial girls who’ve one another’s backs. Such asides do not feel compelled and are a number of the finest scenes of the sequence, particularly the sequences between the group of pals within the quirky ‘Discovering your Penguin’ quick.
It’s spectacular how the mother-daughter equation in My Unlikely Pandemic Dream Accomplice by no means will get into the saccharine zone regardless of giving us never-ending photographs of Qubani ka Meetha and Ande ke Lauz. It offers with cliches, however the sturdy performances of Revathy and Nithya rein all of it in to maintain the engagement issue fairly excessive. Take, as an illustration, the scene the place Revathy asks Nithya to depart the kitchen as a result of she desires to spend time within the reminiscence of her lifeless husband whereas making his favorite Haleem. It’s a heat however obligatory reference to point out that her character is as a lot a spouse as she is a mom and a person with ego. Such nifty touches are peppered all through the sequence, and it provides loads of layers to reasonably wafer-thin plots.
Truthfully, most of those shorts are simplistic, and it’s the narrative selections that separate the wheat from chuff. Each ‘Discovering my Penguin’ and ‘In regards to the Rustle within the Bushes’ is a couple of lady, with a previous, sifting by means of males to discover a soulmate of kinds even whereas wading previous an overbearing father with a coronary heart of gold. Nonetheless, whereas the previous scores excessive on its zany nature, the latter relegates itself to a reasonably standard and boring path. The identical holds good for Suhasini’s grandmother function in ‘Why did she go away me there?’ (directed by Nagesh Kukunoor), which has the actor ship a fascinating efficiency however is caught in a brief that by no means actually tries onerous sufficient. However throughout the shorts, the presence of levity is unmistakable, and it ensures Fashionable Love: Hyderabad stands aside from a number of the different entrants within the Telugu sequence area. Komalee Prasad and Ritu Varma are the showstealers of Fashionable Love: Hyderabad with their comedic turns in ‘Discovering Your Penguin’ and ‘Fuzzy, Purple, and filled with thorns’, which have them mess around with the fourth wall and imaginary worlds.
The boys within the sequence largely play second fiddle to some distinctive girls, who cope with their concepts of romance on their very own accord. The actions of a few of these males are largely questionable, however it is not too out of character for his or her roles, and that is the place the writing scores huge. Even when Aadhi Pinisetty’s Uday fails to do a easy job that Ritu’s Renu asks of him, we’d need to enter the display screen to imbibe some sense into him. Nonetheless, in his head, he’s proper, and that’s one thing that may be stated of all of the characters within the sequence, together with Abhijeet Duddala’s function as a present producer from ‘What Clown wrote this Script’ (directed by Uday Gurrala). There’s a neat scene the place he’s chided by an in-form Malavika Nair as Fleabag-ish standup comedian and author Vandana for his superficial understanding of the MeToo motion. This had the potential to be a ‘sermon’ scene however factors to the writers for avoiding such simple pickings. In truth, not one of the characters are labelled in binary, and every of them are handled with the respect to their myriad nature. Whereas the roles of Naresh Babu (In regards to the Rustle within the Bushes) and Naresh Agastya (Why did you permit me right here?) are largely one-note, each these actors ship compelling performances that iron out a number of the kinks of their tales. By the way, the shorts inhabited by these two actors are the marginally weaker additions to the sequence, primarily as a result of each of them do the cardinal sin of sticking far out in an anthology. It’s attention-grabbing how each these tales do not cope with romance however are extra about familial bonding between a grandmother-grandson, and a father-daughter. However the truth that of the six shorts, solely two of them used the liberty supplied by the OTT medium and tried something new with its format and narrative types.
By means of these six shorts, creator Nagesh Kukunoor who shares writing credit with Shashi Udugala and Bahaish Kapoor appears to ask a easy query… What’s love?
Is it about letting go? Is it about being on the proper place on the proper time to search out the best individual? Is it concerning the spoken apologies and the untold thank yous? Is love all about repetition and persistence? Is it about second probabilities? Is it about trusting one’s intuition? The solutions lie amidst the pillars of the Charminar, the stillness of the Hussain Sagar lake, the punch of Hyderabadi biriyani, the perfume of freshly floor espresso, the flavours of a easy dosa and chutney, and most significantly, inside every of us whose coronary heart appears to search out time to beat for another person.
