Jee Karda web series review: Traverses through moments of mirth but also penetrates into dark alleys

Cast; Tamannaah Bhatia, Aashim Gulati, Anya Singh, Suhail Nayyar

Director: Arunima Sharma

Language: Hindi

Spoilers ahead

Remember Veere Di Wedding? It opened with four friends in their school uniforms sitting at one of the friends’ house and having fun. Moments later, reality check hits the eldest in the form of her parents’ marital discord. In a voiceover, the mother’s character says that life isn’t a bed of roses but it’s important to dream. It was a take on the complexities of modern relationships and the fragility of love and passion. Arunima Sharma’s web show Jee Karda, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, takes the similar route, unintentionally of course. It begins with seven school friends visiting a face reader and how he warns them of different dangers that will be lurking in their respective lives. Someone is asked to beware of love, the other of the year 2022, another one of his father, and the next one of his social status. With each passing shot of the camera on these children, we see their individual grown-up versions. This scene is staged to create curiously and excitement; how and why they will face the issues that were just spoken about.

We then meet them at a wedding along with a bunch of other friends and family members. Sharma has directed and co-written the show along with Hussain and Abbas Dalal, and the former is even cast as one of the friends who shall be doomed soon. For the first two episodes, the writing screams of Deja vu, mercifully not disaster. There are drunken proposals, conversations about marriage, sex scenes, homosexual relationships, and even dogs mating (Hey Kya Super Kool Hain Hum). Coming close to being yourself on camera rather than resorting to theatrics is a good idea, but it also at times acts as a disconnect between the characters and the viewers, especially when the material is so routine on occasions. It’s not like the actors don’t try, Anya Singh gets the confusion and chaos of a girl of her age right, and Tamannaah Bhatia and Suhail Nayyar play a couple you wish you never were. Bhatia also has some mild mommy issues but her scenes with Simone Singh do bring a smile, thanks to Singh’s effervescence.

Jee Karda also poses a question- Is this how relationships in 2023 look like? Are they so threadbare that not being able to get your partner’s favorite ice cream flavor makes her reconsider his proposal for marriage? That not all episodes end on a cliffhanger is the show’s biggest asset and also a liability. Episode 3 ends with Gulati’s character Arjun pacifying a muddled Lavanya (Bhatia) after her altercation with her fiancée Rishabh (Nayyar) over that very ice cream flavor, and the fourth one begins with Arjun’s priceless encounter with a hotel staff who’s clearly smitten by him and also intoxicated by his natural scent (that’s what the subtitles read). We don’t have to bother connecting the dots, but it also shows the writing is quite disjointed.

Not everything falls apart though. There are some nice, frothy touches of free flowing conversations and moments of lunacy and mirth. A running joke on Bollywood PRs, sleeveless sherwani and a wacky cameo by Anup Jalota stand out. So do some tense talks about finances, friendships, future, owning a home in a city like Mumbai and how dreams can shatter in seconds. The final episode involves fire, both literally and metaphorically, it’s the culmination of all the previous conflicts and the beginning of new ones. There’s no redemption, if there’s a new season, there will only be revenge. And the title suggested this would a fun show. Beware, says that face reader.

Jee Karda is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video India

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.