‘The Baker and the Beauty’ series review: Santhosh Shobhan scores in this Telugu web series

Merely put, the story of the brand new Telugu internet sequence The Baker and The Magnificence (streaming on Aha) is a fairytale romance between a baker from a middle-class household and a feminine actor whose each transfer is tracked by the paparazzi. As one of many characters describes it, it’s a narrative of a boy dwelling close to the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad and a lady in Jubilee Hills.

The broad story is on the traces of what we’ve seen within the English rom-com Notting Hill (1999) and extra just lately within the Telugu movie Sammohanam (2018). So after I learnt that the brand new Telugu sequence is an adaptation of a similarly-named Israeli sequence by Assi Azar, I used to be curious and watched it. The Telugu sequence is a trustworthy adaptation, down to selecting related episode titles — the ‘Artichoke Soup’ turns into ‘Mushroom Soup’ within the Indian context. The Telugu sequence appropriates the happenings to the cultural milieu of Hyderabad. Appreciably, it doesn’t water down the unique content material. It’s a narrative of the baker as a lot as it’s the story of his two siblings, and touches upon aspirations, awkward household ties and the acceptance of same-sex relationships.

The ten-episode sequence, averaging at 30-35 minute period every, is a slick rom-com that comes alive with a line-up of expertise. The charming Santhosh Shobhan performs baker Vijay Krishna Dasaripalle who trades his wonderful artwork desires to assist run his father Venkateshwarlu’s (Srikanth Iyengar) bakery. Vijay lives along with his father, mom Padma (Jhansi), brother Vikram (Sangeeth Shobhan) and sister Meera (Sai Swetha). The brother could be foolish, annoying and cringe-inducing abruptly and the mom, a livewire who’s so vocal that it could be not possible to carry secrets and techniques. The considerably brooding sister, although, has her personal secrets and techniques. The close-knit household is surrounded by pleasant however overtly inquisitive neighbours, led by Suseela (Tarusha Saxena).

In distinction to this household is the world of feminine actor Aira Vasireddy (Tina Shilparaj) whose father we hear about however by no means see. She’s totally on her personal in her mansion, together with her profession and life managed by her shrewd supervisor Lakshmi (Venkat).

Vijay and Aira cross paths early into the story and he finds himself sucked into her glitzy world, although at all times made to really feel like an inconsequential outsider who could be simply distributed with. An unlikely romance blooms however will get more durable with Lakshmi’s disapproval and Vijay’s now-on, now-off scheming girlfriend Maheshwari (Vishnupriya).

Because the episodes roll by, we’re anticipated to droop our disbelief at how a well-liked actress takes a shine to a man she met barely and asks him to accompany her on an evening out together with her gang; quickly she invitations him to a home celebration (the place journey sports activities is organised, clearly and not using a safety clearance) and a visit to Dubai! By no means thoughts, it’s meant to be a fairytale romance.

Inscrutable Aira retains Vijay on tenterhooks and questioning if she’s on a quick rebound from her breakup with a Bollywood star.

Vijay’s insecurities step by step floor. He has at all times been afraid of ending up a loner, which explains why he hasn’t been in a position to firmly transfer away from Maheshwari, regardless of realising deep inside that he wouldn’t need to take their relationship additional. With Aira, it’s he who’s on the receiving finish, uncertain if he would match into her glamorous world. Aira’s indecisiveness provides to his woes. At one level, Vijay asks her if she’s going to go on a date with anybody that her supervisor selects for her.

Hell breaks unfastened when the media will get to know of the Aira-Vijay romance. The impact that the romance has on Vijay’s household is hilariously captured. Jhansi is a deal with to look at. It’s a task the place she may have simply gone overboard, however she will get the combination excellent — involved about her son in addition to making no mistake that courting an actor would assure him a greater monetary future. The Telangana dialect makes the traces all of the extra pleasant.

Expectedly, the siblings complicate the fairytale romance. In between all this, the middle-class household is compelled to introspect on their very own hypocrisy — do they honestly don’t have anything to cheer about? And, what if one among their very own isn’t ‘regular’ as they understand? Can they appear previous their fears and settle for the same-sex relationship?

The Baker and the Magnificence has a number of subplots; whereas the sister’s parts are handled empathy, the brother’s parts are sometimes clunky and change into sluggish.

Jhansi, Srikanth Iyengar and Sai Sweta sustain the momentum with good performances. Santhosh Shobhan takes the cake. He performs his half with a straightforward allure, and is efficient in portraying the character’s insecurities. Tina Shilparaj performs the icy maiden parts nicely however even because the story progresses, her expressions are robust to gauge and may come off as non-reactive. Venkat’s portrayal of the manipulative supervisor wanted extra chew. Prashanth Vihari’s music deserves a point out.

The rom-com may have been shorter, somewhat than attempting to recreate the whole lot that occurs within the Israeli unique. There are just a few apparent missteps. As an example, which company workplace locations orders for puffs for a cocktail party and asks for supply at night time? That the mom couldn’t sense one thing fishy is a far cry.

However, it holds curiosity with its portrayal of complicated trendy city romances.

(The Baker and the Magnificence streams on Aha)