Watching a Marathi show where suddenly one guy says, ‘Are you living in Wakanda, kya?’ is enough to make you stop and check out the writers of this funny show that is Dil Chahta Hai set in Lonavala.
The chemistry between the three childhood friends - Shreyas (nicknamed ‘Shreya’, played by Abhay Mahajan), Prasanna (or ‘Pashya’ played by Lalit Prabhakar) and Dinar (or ‘Chips’ played by Alok Rajwade) - is really wonderful.
Of course the film Dil Chahta Hai has been their companion for life, with each one wanting to be Aamir Khan. The first two episodes of the six-part show are a breeze to watch, and you really connect on some level with the repartee and the insults they dish out to one another. That’s what friends do, right? It made me want to tell everyone at home to take a dekko, because such fun is tough to come by.
Read more: 20 years of 'Dil Chahta Hai'
The BhaDiPa (Bharatiya Digital Party; a Marathi YouTube channel that makes comedy and music content) have taken Marathi comedy out of the comedy sketch shows on TV (where the judges are louder than the jokes), and offered really fresh content on YouTube.
They started out with on the couch interviews with celebs (a little like Between Two Ferns) and moved on to live shows. (Plus, their ‘Mother’ series is so funny, you wish the jokes could be translated to other languages. Not that the ‘mother who understands no boundaries’ won’t translate, but some meme-worthy jokes are instant hits: when that BhaDiPa ‘Mum’ - an avid watcher of TV - begins to take down razais from the attic, and her grown-up kids ask her why she wants to do that in the middle of Pune summer, she answers in all seriousness: Winter Is Coming.)
Such crossover comedy just works. So when the same team (under TVF) brings us Shantit Kranti (Shanti=peace, and Kranti = revolution) on SonyLIV, it’s worth the subscription (mine lapsed after the brilliant Prateek Gandhi show Scam 1992).
So, back to "Marathi Dil Chahta Hai". The three friends have been wanting to do the "Goa Trip" which that movie made famous. They want it so bad, Dinar is even willing to be robbed by any "Christine". But then he invites Alok to their drinking session and he seems transformed because he went to an ashram in Lonavala and found ‘Inner Peace’. Although the drinking session is to celebrate the Rs 34,000 Scotch bottle which Shreyas has wrangled back from his girl Rupali (who just broke off their engagement because he’s childish and cannot take on responsibilities, stalks her, and other complaints). The subtitles work well and even the humour is translatable (question: does everyone have an elderly gent living in their building who butts into their conversations?).
If you have a trio of friends you drink with, then you’ll find the three lads quite easily relatable. While the irresponsible Shreyas has no money troubles, Prasanna seems to be battling another domestic question: Should he really step into a new responsibility or pursue his Olympic dream? Dinar is named after currency, but does he have enough money? Or will he get by on his mojo?
For some reason, Shreyas cannot get over what Alok said: Shantivan actually brought him inner peace, and now he sleeps like a child. He drives the friends over to Lonavala instead of Goa. After that the show just turns on its head and becomes a heavy watch. It’s not bad, it’s just not the lighthearted fun show we started out with.
The dramatic change bothered me a bit, but the story is engaging. And I found myself wanting to know what brought the other inmates to this asylum of peace. There’s the gold-chain wearing, gun toting gunda (Sagar Yadav) , there’s an irascible uncle who is unable to communicate (Dhananjay Sardeshpande, Dhumal kaka), the universal auntie who serves perhaps 200 people a day at the canteen she runs, but has never been asked if she had had her food (Suhita Thatte is just perfect in the role!). There is also that ‘white, blonde person out to find nirvana in India’ (Paula McGlynn). Shikha Talsania as Neha the course coordinator Neha and Ninad Gore as Chotu keep the inmates in control at this Shantivan...
Read more: The drama around wellness
You get involved in this eco-friendly vegetarian ashram where no alcohol is allowed either. Some funny moments about Lonavala instead of Goa make you smile. But the show has slowed down so much, you need a boost of coffee in your veins to get through the life lessons that come at you so fast, you know you’re on a shaky wicket. I don’t mind life lessons, but whatever happened to the fun? I was promised guffaws and they’re eliciting tears now? Where’s the, ‘Hum cake khane le liye kahin bhi jaa sakte hain’ tension breaker?
Speaking of which, I found myself correcting subtitles in my head. The line, ‘Tusadya sarakha bollas’ is not simply ‘You yelled at me’ but ‘You shouted at me irritatedly’. The Hindi word for feeling ‘Jhunjhulahat’ comes close to an explanation… But that’s the bane of being multilingual, isn't it!
If only they had curbed their enthusiasm in trying to fix all three lives in six episodes, I would have been a super happy camper. On a serious note though, I’m glad SonyLIV is experimenting with such interesting content in regional languages.
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