What havoc can a belan-the important weapon in a housewife’s armory-wreck? Well, this is exactly what new Colors comedy, Belan Wali Bahu, starring Krystle D’Souza, is all about. Krystle plays Roopa, a real klutz, who goofs up funnily every time (spilling the kheer), and, in the end, accidently kills her husband Amarnath Awasthi (Ladoo-Dheeraj Sarna), courtesy, the belan. He becomes a ghost and wants to teach her a lesson, hence, scuttles her attempts to give him salvation.
Krystle performs well as the dukhi bahu, albeit in the comic zone. There is just one jarring point-she does not question, even in jest, as to why she was married off at the tender age of 18, and that too, to her own brother-in-law, after the death of her sister. In our opinion, channels need to do much more towards the cause of women emancipation.
As a performer, this role is an addition to Krystle’s repertoire. Comedy is something that she has not attempted before. But were the makers not confident about her ability to carry off a comic character? Is that the reason they have given it a dukhiyari bahu veneer? Well, only the makers can answer that (Dheeraj Sarna and Ved Raj).
Dheeraj Sarna is doing a good job as the always frowning Ladoo. You feel sorry for his state. It is nice to see the actor in Dheeraj after a long time.
The show has its fair share of laughs, e.g. the shaking bungalow, the dadaji (Sudhir Pandey) who is crazy about his nurse (Shraddha Jaiswal), and the mother (Bhavana Balsavar), who slaps Ladoo as a form of blessing. It also follows the tried and tested template of men suffering at the hands of their wives. In a bid to up the comic quotient, a few stale jokes (ant in the sugar bottle, etc.) have been added. It is quite tough, creatively, to keep the laughter organic and fresh. We reserve our comments for now, as it is too early to take a call, either way.
The scene where pandits ask for rich food, as a way to attain salvation for the departed soul, was a clear indicator of the need to question traditions.
It would be interesting to see how the plot unfolds, and what major comic turns come around, as the show is very new, and all the opening cards are yet to be unfolded.
Mushtaq Khan is impressive as the decent father/husband, caught between his old man (Sudhir Pandey) and nagging wife (Bhavana Balsavar). He tries to bail out his daughter-in-law Roopa, whenever he can.
The family is complete, with Roopa’s lazy, selfie-crazy sister-in-law, Shalini (Sunayana Fozdar). Her husband is the suspended cop, Jeetendra Awasthi (Sikandar Kharbanda), who loves his wife and family.
It is very clear that, here, Colors is not targeting the youth, but rather, the housewives and family audiences. Therefore, some devices, which the youth might not like, will be there. But to be fair, every channel needs to have a complete bouquet of shows, which speaks to all audiences.
Interestingly, Colors is airing the first week of this daily breakless, and that too for well over the normal 30 minutes run. The aim is to establish the characters, but sometimes it gets a tad too long. We hate to say this, but we miss our breaks.
The going won’t be easy for Belan Wali Bahu, as it is in direct competition with Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, which is the one of the best laughter shows around. But yes, &TV has a much lesser reach than Colors.
All in all, if you like a few quick laughs, do check out Belan Wali Bahu. After all, comedy in fiction space does need more attempts.
IndianWikiMedia would rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.