The dark side of social media fame combined with human frailties
REVIEW: Folks will go to any size to attain immediate fame and fortune, they usually use social media as a method of creating fast cash. There’s nothing unsuitable with it, nevertheless it has a darker aspect that focuses on how these apps work, and it is clear from the start of the present that “it is a enterprise of leisure, and enterprise comes earlier than leisure.” The present follows each app builders, who’re purely business-oriented, and content material creators, who could wrestle to create partaking content material that may seize individuals’s consideration.
Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s present delves into the lives of a number of individuals related to a video-streaming social media app referred to as Escaype Stay. The present follows app customers as they push boundaries within the hopes of successful the app’s grand prize of three crores. It has a whole lot of resemblance to the apps like Tik-Tok, Dubsmash, and Instagram reels, the place anybody with a telephone can grow to be a star. The present revolves across the app builders—the boss, Ravi Gupta (Jaaved Jaaferi), group chief Gia Bose (Waluscha D’ Souza), and content material moderator Krishna (Siddharth), in addition to the lives of the topmost content material creators—sleazy web sensation Fetish Lady (Plabita Borthakur), prankster Darkie (Sumedh Mudgalkar), parkour Aamcha Spider (Ritvik Sahore), singing sensation Meena Kumari (Rohit Chandel) and Dancing Rani (Aadyaa Sharma).
Every character is brimming with feelings and vulnerabilities, which inspires them to discover the app. Dancing Rani, for instance, needs to quickly remodel right into a “huge woman” to grow to be an web sensation after attempting her luck in a number of dance competitions; Fetish Lady aka Hina resides a double lifetime of dealing with discrimination as a result of she is from the Northeast and hiding her id on the app to earn some further grants to help her household and herself; and in relation to pranks, Darkie is aware of no bounds apart from his likes and recognition, which ought to enhance with the quantity of hearts and diamonds he earns on the app. Then there’s Aamcha Spider, a dhobi’s (washerman’s) son who needs to vary his life from “naali ke keede wali zindagi se seedha penthouse wali zindagi” and Rajkumar is a transwoman who hides his true id as a result of he’s afraid of social acceptance and solely reveals up as Meena Kumari on the app. Regardless of their various backgrounds and environments, all of them have one factor in frequent: they’re all doing various things with the identical objective of transferring ahead in life.
Co-written by Jaya Mishra and Siddharth Kumar Tewary, this nine-part sequence— with every episode lasting about an hour—is each entertaining and fast-paced attributable to its busy narrative. Nonetheless, among the enchantment has worn off attributable to the truth that the present has too many characters and their reel and real-life tales served one after one other for the viewers. Even so, it retains everybody guessing, from the characters to the viewers, about what is going to occur subsequent and who will win this competitors. Based mostly on the primary seven episodes obtainable for assessment, the climax is anticipated to be a game-changer. Allow us to wait and watch!
By way of appearing, Siddharth offers a restrained efficiency as Krishna. He’s the one one who is worried about making issues proper, each professionally and personally. However his character arc shouldn’t be effectively developed. Sumedh Mudgalkar performs Darkie as crafty and unpredictable, and he shines in each scene—whether or not it is a stay recording or he is brutally beating the sh*t out of somebody. He’s troublesome to look at on-screen. Aadyaa Sharma steals the present and emerges as essentially the most entertaining content material creator amongst others. Whether or not it’s an merchandise quantity or a Rajasthani folks dance, her strikes will seize your consideration.
Plabita Borthakur (who was final seen in Sutliyan) steals the present as a fetish woman, greeting her followers as “Hellooo Boysss.” She makes you sympathise along with her character, whether or not she is molested or discriminated in opposition to. Swastika Mukherjee as Hina’s boss Mala performs her half convincingly. Ritvik Sahore’s position as Parkour differs significantly from his earlier roles in Campus Diaries and Indoori Ishq. He seems to be an excellent candidate for one of these position. Rohit Chandel is spectacular as each Meena Kumari and Rajkumar. His discomfort in coping with social norms each day is convincingly conveyed. Sunaina is launched late within the story, however Shweta Tripathi Sharma portrays her flawlessly. Her encouragement and empowerment of Rajkumar to come back out of the closet and settle for himself is admirable. Jaaved Jaaferi as CEO of Escaype stay and Waluscha D’Souza because the boss girl has a restricted position however make their presence felt.
‘Escaype Stay’ briefly addresses social inequality and transgender acceptance, nevertheless it finally juggles just a few tales with which viewers could wrestle to attach. Total, the plot is slightly crowded with too many characters and their backstories, which take time to develop however ultimately seize your consideration.
