We really wonder when desi web will come out of its perpetual s*x mode. TVF Girliyapa Originals’ new web show, Girlsplaining, is sadly no different.
The setting is a college canteen, where two cute-looking girls give gyaan to a guy who has just got into a relationship.
As in most web shows, there is no skin show. But the conversation is mostly about sex, couched in other terms. It sure took us back to our college locker-room talk, where we would discuss you-know-what. If you really want to be open, why don’t you use open s*x terms as in the West.
The channel openly plugs its condom sponsor, and, to be fair, it goes with the flow, without seeming forced.
The makers have, very smartly, kept the run length to around 7 minutes, for, honestly, such stuff does not hold your attention for long.
All the three actors (Ahsaas Channa, Kritika Avasthi, Mohak Meet) have done a good job. Although they are talking about a very taboo subject, they do it with élan and confidence, making it look cute. We wish our TV actors could handle their consummation or kissing scenes equally well.
The ordinary-looking guy represents many small-town boys who want to score on the first night, but have no frigging clue about what girls want (well, to be fair, even the biggest player will not be able to answer that fully).
His two female friends represent the advisers, who “might have not achieved” much themselves, but claim to know it all. In a way, they blow his case, rather than helping him- another youth truism.
One of the better jokes was when he calls his hand-me-down pink scooty as Black Panther. The dig, that his elder sis has moved on to meaner machines (bikes), was a cool take on the male-female divide.
The real fun only came in the last episode, when his girlfriend meets them and gives them the female version of Pyaar Ka Punchnama. Her grouses made a lot of sense- maybe if guys work on them, things might get better.
TVF has made a lot of cutting-edge stuff, but alas, this might not make it to that elite league. Having said that, if you want a few quick laughs, do check it out; being only four episodes long, it’s not much of a stress.
Agreed that the young generation is huge and most of them have purchasing power; and traditional TV does not design content for them, so it makes sense to target them. But does this mean that they only dig getting in between the sheets?
This feeling, in a way, demeans the desi gen-next; we are sure there are many issues plaguing them- education, generation gap, income inequities- that can become good subject matters. Wouldn’t it be better if you show these issues, interspersed with sex, as it happens in real life? Sex does form an important part of youngsters’ lives, but not the only part. No one says Indians don’t get laid.
Also, comedy seems to be the mainstay of most sex-based shows, which seems to indicate a kind of laziness to think out of the box.
We would rate it 3 out of 5 for the performances and punches.