At a time, when most web series are full of glamour and glitzy lifestyles, you often wonder– what about ordinary folk like you and me? Well, Amazon Prime’s latest offering, Pushpavalli, is just that. It traces the romantic life of a healthy gal, Pushpavalli Parasuraman (Sumukhi Suresh), who comes all the way from Bhopal to Bengaluru to be with the guy she digs, the guy in question being Nikhil Rao (Manish Anand).
The best part is that unlike most stories, where chubby girls are shown to be under-confident, Pushpavalli is just the opposite. She knows what she wants, and will pull any stunt to get what she wants- like the scene where she uses her Bhopal friends to get Nikhil’s number. She even stalks Nikhil.
Lead actress, Sumukhi Suresh, is a very spontaneous performer, bringing life into the role of Pushpavalli. Yes, the name is too long; no wonder, Nikhil prefers to call her Lee, and we will do that as well. We sympathize with her never-ending fiascos (in one scene, she ends up stealing somebody’s helmet!), for, we want the underdog to win.
Lee’s mother is just like any mother, who uses emotional blackmail to force her daughter into marriage. Her being a widow for years, only adds to the pressure. The Guruji bit is something most yuppies will identify with. The narrative also takes a quiet dig at regressive practices, such as girls not being allowed to cook during menstruation.
Nikhi is a typical nice guy who has no clue that he is being stalked. Lee bribes a tea man (Ashok Pathak), to keep her up to date regarding his movement. The latter is hilarious when he acts clueless as to why Lee is after Nikhil.
Lee’s childhood friend Pankaj (Navin Richards), in whose crèche cum library she works, is a taskmaster. This dude can’t speak one line without letting go a volley of expletives. To be honest, too much swearing turns you off. Agreed you have the freedom to abuse online, but let’s not make a habit out of it.
The PG place where Lee stays is also interesting. The always-maxi- wearing landlady, Vasu (Shraddha), is one bitch who would not want mind throwing out a non-rent- paying girl even at night. The joke where Lee does not understand the meaning of a guy flashing a girl is funny. Her roomies are like typical youngsters– totally messed up in their lives and not caring a fig for others’ issues (Lee’s). Here again, swearing is an issue.
The entire concept of the show is very light and breezy, yet we feel 8 episodes is tad too long; it could have been capped at 5 or 6. The story moves a bit between the past and the present, so the viewers understand why Lee is doing what she is. Not wanting to be a party pooper, we will refrain from telling more about the plot.
Another positive is that there is no skin show and s*x scenes, which dominate the web landscape. The story is unabashedly Bengaluru and Kannada, and the makers (OML) make no bones about it. The only downside is that people from other parts of the country might feel a bit out of place, though the story more than makes up for it.
We at IndianWikiMedia.com will give this effort 3.5 out of 5 stars.