The write stuff. That’s where all the action is. Every situation is fraught with possibilities, and the series’ architects never fail to chisel into them. The comedic social satire returns to the quirky village of Dhadakpur with bigger chaos, tracking the Jha family across multiple parallel timelines over a tense seven-day countdown. Banwari Jha (Gajraj Rao), who has lost his teaching job, wants to set up a mobile tower on his barren land for money. However, the superstitious villagers start blaming the tower for everything from typhoid to tsunamis.
Roshni (Shivani Raghuvanshi) takes up a challenge to clear her SSC entrance exam. Desperate to pass, she and Amavas (Bhuvan Arora) get entangled with a risky paper-leak coaching center scam.Bhugol (Sparsh Shrivastava) is finally famous, but hilariously only as a female online influencer. Inspector Mithlesh (played by new cast addition Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’) smells a scam brewing and zeroes in on the case
In a droll season of selfimportant crime thrillers and soporific family fiestas Dupahiya, now streaming on Amazon , is a blessing. And not even in disguise. There is not a single moment of artifice in the entire length and breadth of the series.
It is normal to skip portions of lengthy serials, time after all is valuable. If you miss any chunk of this peachy fable of bride, a wedding, and missing mo’bike you will do so at your own risk.
My compliments to the chef, the writers Avinash Dwivedi, Chirag Garg, Salona Bains Joshi, and Shubh Shivdasani for a screenplay that simply sways to its rural rhythm. For those of us who believe that too many cooks spoil the broth, here is proof to the contrary. Crackling hissing writing, so original and game changing, I thought I would never get to see on the Indian OTT platform.
There is not borrowed bone in the series as the writers take us to a village in Bihar Dhadakpur where crime never used to happen… until lately.
This, I confess, is lame summation of a wildly uproarious display of brilliant bedlam which moves from a routine gaon-mein-shadi fare to ferocious race against time to retrieve the stolen bike.
The series brims over with utterly incredible performance: the ever-dependable Gajaraj Rao is bang-on as the bride Roshni’s harried father, as is Shivani Raghuvanshi(why is she not getting more to do?) as the daughter . And Bhuvan Arora Roshni’s lovelorn paramour is infectiously posh. But the real star of Dupahiya is Sparsh Shrivastava. Playing the bride’s Bollywood-fixated brother, the young actor from Laapataa Ladies swings a clean sixer.
Sonam Nair’s direction gets it right without wobbling into the trite. The ‘Bihari’ dialect may seem a little strained at times(and Renuka Shahane as the Sarpanch’s right-hand woman is too much Neena Gupta from Panchayat without the latter’s naturalness) but Nair nails the mood with unerring acumen. She is the directorial discovery of the year.
Dupahiya is the kind of fresh funny and feisty series that restores our faith beyond the tedium of the OTT medium.Would there be a third season ? Bring it on, please! I am still chuckling. When was the last time when every one of the bustling gallery of characters left a roasting impression.
