Rating – *** (3/5)
There are probably ten to fifteen instances in Prime Video’s latest series, Follow Kar Lo Yaar where you keep thinking this can easily be a quote on a t-shirt and be ‘viral’ as well – not because it is deep or poignant, and also not because it is extremely funny or referential – but because it is unique, real and flawed – basically just how Uorfi is.
Follow Kar Lo Yaar showcases Uorfi Javed being Uorfi Javed in the most anticipated manner possible. It would be easy to think that she tries to present an exaggerated version of herself just because she knows the camera is rolling and a show is being made, that isn’t the case though. She genuinely thinks about work, content creation, breaking boundaries but also realises what she’s worth.
An Uorfi Javed who wants to get breast implants, an Uorfi Javed who doesn’t want to do anything for free and just keep earning lots and lots of money, an Uorfi Javed who loses temper and hates confrontation – to hate her or disdain her is convenient because while watching it, you almost feel like being invested in a fictional character, only this is real.
But while you dislike her to a large extent, you are consistently conflicted too as you see her acknowledging her flaws, see her admitting to her mistakes and apologising (even though she repeatedly says she doesn’t like saying sorry), and caring about the people around her, well…to an extent.
What Follow Kar Lo Yaar lacks primarily is never rising above its wannabe The Kardashians vibe, and having the fights and negativity take over more often than not. The Javed sisters which includes Urusa, Asfi and Dolly keep screaming and shouting literally and metaphorically trying to be the Kardashian sisters and that entirely defeats the purpose of the show almost going on for too long.
The ambitiousness of Uorfi is always applaudable and when she says things like ‘I want to buy a pent house’, ‘I want to have a Rolls Royce’, you believe it that she actually wants it and is fighting to work for it.
There is a plethora of problematic things that constitute Uorfi’s belief in the conventional sense as statements like ‘I like to be stared at’, berating her agency guy for staring at her boobs while implying that he has indeed seen how small her boobs are casually – all seem contradictory and that’s when you see flashes of Uorfi losing the plot in her real life, and taking a path that has her confused.
Follow Kar Lo Yaar also suffers with the age old problem of OTT shows of having way too many episodes – and this one feels even more owing to it being a reality mockumentary and not just another fictional story. After a point of time, everything seems repetitive and Uorfi’s antics aren’t enough to save the never-ending 250+ minutes of runtime.
However, Follow Kar Lo Yaar is still a worthy watch based on how any young folk out there watching will learn, be entertained and while happily make mistakes but never make an error at the cost of your integrity and respect. Uorfi wants respect and so does all of us.
The show has begun streaming on Amazon Prime Video.