TV Show Review: Afsos

 *no spoilers*

Speaking frankly, I am not much of a content consumer. Rather I watch very few films and TV shows. The major portion of my leisure time is rather directed towards selecting what movies to watch- and I can freakin’ ensure that the selection process is rigorous. 

It was the first day of the week-long economics board preparatory holidays that we had gotten, when I was in no mood to study, that it struck my mind to binge a series that I had seen the trailer of, a week ago: Afsos.

source: Amazon Prime

Afsos in a ‘dark comedy thriller’ miniseries of eight episodes, streaming on Amazon Prime. It is probably the first Indian show to belong to the dark comedy genre. All the eight episodes are directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, of the Kashyap clan. Anubhuti, who was an assistant director with her brother, Anurag Kashayap at several of his films including Gangs of Wasseypur and Dev.D; has done a remarkable job at pulling the series off. She has managed to make an extremely unlikely and unrealistic story feel authentic, and to some extent, believable.

The show stars Gulshan Devaiah, an extremely talented and versatile actor whom you might remember playing the double role of the one-legged martial arts trainer and his gangster brother in Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota. Gulshan here, plays Nakul, a depressed writer who has lost all hopes in life and has unsuccessfully made several attempts to suicide. Alongside Gulshan, is Anjali Patil, as her therapist, Heeba Shah as Updhay, a serial killer who has maintained a long killing streak, and several other actors who have equally contributed in their small or big parts.

The plot basically revolves around Nakul and Upadhay. Nakul plays a suicidal man who has given up on life and is willing to die. Willing so much, that he has hired a firm: the Emergency Exit, to assist him in killing himself. The firm passes on the contract to Upadhay who, being an egotist, takes the task of killing Nakul as a challenge upon herself. On the other hand, there is a Sadhu roaming around, searching for an immortal man and a scientist, sending minions to search for an immortality elixir. The story is a cat and a mouse chase throughout. Might seem bizarre, right? But that's exactly where the beauty of the show lies. The show has neatly managed to balance itself on the fine line between fantasy and realistic cinema. And that’s something to credit the writers for. Saurab Ghosh and Anirban Dasgupta, two well-known standup comedians in the dark comedy genre have co-written this show alongside Dibya Chatterjee. They have managed to make a beautiful piece of dark thriller, which has some delicate incidents of humour and satire. 

Now coming to the things that disappointed me: Well, although I appreciate the unique premise the show had, and how nicely they had presented the first 4-5 episodes, but half way through, the story somehow lost track. It began to introduce newer characters and plot twists which the story could have easily done without. The show, rather too heavily leaned towards the philosophical aspects and entered the world of unbelievability and mystique. What started as a nice setup for a thrilling plot ended up becoming a piece of philosophical mumbo jumbo. One could easily spot that such a satirical and oddly plot story could be designed by no one but stand-up comedians. The show almost ends as stand-up comedians usually end their sketches, by recalling a punchline or joke that they had set up in the beginning. The show almost ends up leaving us wondering about the mere futility of immortality for a human being. Despite the lost second half of the show, I would definitely suggest you watch it, just for the sheer remarkability of the uncomfortable comedy that has been injected into the screenplay.

I give to this miniseries three stars out of five.(I know it sounds like Rajeev Masand.)

-HJ