Rating – **** (4/5)
Seldom does it happen that one show is able to churn out special content season after season given the novelty, the essence and the innocence of its initial arrival starts fading away. For a show like TVF’s Kota Factory, the task is even more arduous. A show about cracking IIT-JEE and NEET, life gyaan and a teacher who puts been your best friends to shame – Kota Factory has been gunning meticulously with its intention since day one.
The third season is here and the culmination of our central characters, Vaibhav (Mayur More), Meena (Ranjan Raj), Uday (Alam Khan), Vartika (Revathi Pillai), Shivangi (Ahsaas Channa) and Meenal (Urvi Singh) is awaited with the million-dollar question – were they able to crack it after all this time? The answer, somehow doesn’t even matter even though it is what everything is built around. Having had the chance to witness this fantastic Season 3, here’s what I thought about it-
Going Places & Staying Relevant
As mentioned earlier, Kota Factory faces the tiresome task of staying resonant and relevant owing to surfacing around a world that might seem to have its limitations. However, what is about TVF, is that they always manage to catch the pressing nerve of the audience and make you fall in love with the world, the characters all over again.
With Kota Factory S3, which for me is an improvement over Season 2, the creators are cognizant of the fact that we are now in the endgame and the friendship that the core group has established over the past two seasons is what holds the test of their tests (pun unintended). The frustration of not understanding how to prepare for this gargantuan exam still infuriates you, the gyaan provided by Jeetu Bhaiya still hits hard, and the relatability with your now-loved characters reigns supreme over everything else.
The 2-minute monologue by Vaibhav encapsulates all our angst, and helplessness but extreme determination to still crack the big one. Kota Factory S3 masquerades as a show about the thousands and lakhs of kids trying to come in that top 3000 but with fifteen episodes now, it keeps on reminding you that it is so much more.
Jeetu Bhaiya – Best Written Character & Welcome Tillotama Shome
As I mentioned above, it is such a tightrope to be walking on with the popularity and appeal of the character of Jeetu Bhaiya. It is now established that okay, he is one of the coolest teachers there can be and a person who doesn’t just care about his students professionally but personally; what else can it offer? Season 3 reminds – so much more.
The character of Jeetu Bhaiya has to one of the best, if not the best written character in recent memory where this time around, they go to places you didn’t anticipate with Jeetu Bhaiya. Still getting over the passing of Vernali, Jeetu Bhaiya is now fighting some inner demons that are overpowering his unabashed love for his students but most importantly, he is struggling now more than ever being the ‘Jeetu Bhaiya’ and not ‘Jeetu Sir.’
Then we have the introduction of Tillotama Shome as Pooja Didi, the new chemistry teacher. And as you expect from both spectrums – the actor shines with her portrayal always keeping it subtle as she never really holds the place of being a replacement for students to Jeetu Bhaiya but in fact becomes a figure who also genuinely cares about their education and future. From the writers’ side, they also make sure to give the right amount of flickers of what potential the character holds for the future without being blatant about it.
Get Your Tissues Ready
Without spoiling anything, I wasn’t ready but was still ready to be prepared for a sob fest as the show approached its final moments in Episode 5. I sobbed uncontrollably. What’s fascinating is how Kota Factory sets up itself for Season 4 which seems inevitable but also leaves you perplexed with the places it wants to go ahead.
What cannot be denied is how Kota Factory is one of the best web shows to have come in Indian streaming space and this black-and-white series continues to add colors to our lives.
