Aashram Review: Bobby Deol’s Series Is a Diligently Done Expose on Fake Godmen That Loses Out on Its Execution

Aashram Review :The previous week, Bobby Deol impressed us the grim Dean Vijay Singh in the flawed Class of '83. Looks like the OTT world can't really get enough of him, as Bobby returns to the web-space again with Prakash Jha's web-series Aashram, that's streaming on MX Player. If he was a determined hero clipped of his wings in Class of '83, then Aashram has him as a shrewd godman with not so godly intentions. Class of '83 on Netflix or Aashram on MX Player - Which Bobby Deol's Digial Outing are You Most Excited About?

So Bobby Deol is Baba Nirala, a godman with a huge fan following in Uttar Pradesh. He has a very kickass entry sequence  in the series. Satti (Tushar Pandey) a boy from a lower-caste community gets injured in a clash with men from the higher caste community, who opposed the wedding procession of his brother through their locality. His sister, Pammi (Aaditi Pohankar) files a report for attempt of murder against the attackers. In retaliation, the higher caste members hijack the hospital where Satti is taken to be treated, not allowing the doctors to treat him.

Here's where Baba Nirala makes his indelible mark, both in Pammi's life, as well as in the viewers' mind. Amidst the many hailings and chants, he enters the scene and solves Pammi and Satti's problem with ease, and also allows further humiliation of their foes. Pammi is mesmerised, and so are we. Like his hero's entry, is Baba Nirala a hero too?

Wait! That doesn't make sense, for the first scene of the series has Pammi trying to escape from Nirala's men, even presumably murdering one in the process. So what happened in between? Bobby Deol's Digital Outing with Aashram is the New Topic For Meme Makers; Netizens Welcome His Announcement with Amusing Reactions.

Prakash Jha's webseries gets into the machinations of how godmen manage to entice such a large following of devotees. Okay, let me correct myself, 'fake' godmen. Just as the disclaimer that comes in the beginning of all of its episodes, Aashram is about exposing fake godmen, and NOT about denigrating Hinduism as a religion.

The kickass first episode itself gives you an insight into how Baba Nirala, and his real-life counterparts like the incarcerated MSG baba and Asaram Bapu, work. They are products of a flawed system, who feed on the fears of the downtrodden and earn power through their devotion and respect. Through Pammi, our supposed protagonist, we see how Nirala manages to create a blind, devoted follower.

Pammi is a talented wrestler, whose aspirations are downtrodden over her lower-caste status. In Baba Nirala, she sees her saviour, and is drawn by the social services he does in his ashram. But what she doesn't see is the pallor behind that aura that he protrudes, nor does she question why he needs to have goons around.

Watch the Trailer of Aashram:

Parallel to Pammi's story, there is also Inspector Ujagar Singh (Darshan Kumaar) and his loyal subordinate Sadhu (Vikram Kochhar), who are investigating a skeleton discovered in an industrial estate. The skeleton first leads Ujagar to Dr Natasha (Anupriya Goenka), the post-mortem doctor who he is infatuated with, and then to Nirala's ashram.

Jha and his set of writers (Madhvi Bhatt, Avinash Kumar, Sanjay Masoomm, Tejpal Singh Rawat and Kuldeep Ruhil) go about in deconstructing how a godman manages to create an unchallenged authority in a state. Their narrative is heavily inspired by the news headlines that cover stories of the expanding regimes of these holy men, and the criminal activities that go behind the preachings in the case of some. Class of 83 Movie Review: A Pensive Bobby Deol and the Talented Newcomers Fight a Hard Battle Against Hazy Writing and Rushed Editing.

While the show doesn't rely on stomach-churning moments as some of the other series we have seen on Indian OTT, Aashram does make a couple of uncomfortable points. Especially when it hits upon the nexus between politics and religion. More so, because it hits closer home, by questioning our blind loyalty to someone or something. There are a few scenes that will shock you with regards to how it depicts the unquestioning gullibility of the 'bhakts'. The middle episodes, especially, are very engaging as it peels off more layers from the godman's reflected aura.

Aashram also scores well on its production values, with good detailing given to the clothing worn and Nirala's abode. But despite its topical themes and some hard-hitting moments, Aashram, however, fails to pack a punch. The storyline, while keeping realistic as much as possible, doesn't really bring anything new to the table and lacks surprises.

It takes some time for Aashram to bring the focus on Bobby's character, and the series become better when that happens. While some of his portions are truly engaging, they don't really turn him into a dynamic character, as his Baba Nirala is meant to be. The suspense about his motivations are exposed much early, and what we get to see is a character (good or bad, I won't say for SPOILERS) that lacks dimensions or nuances.

Similarly, Pammi's feud with casteism also made for a gripping storyline, but even that gets shortchanged after a few episodes. Both these storylines could have been given more focus than Ujagar and Natasha's predictable and listless romantic track.

The major flaw also lies in Jha's direction. The making feels amateurish at times, and relies too much on the central cast and its realistic plotting to help the series sail through. The successes of similarly realistically-touched series like Pataal Lok and Sacred Games depended a lot in the execution. In Aashram, Jha's direction feels listless.

There are some very amateurishly shot sequences that come as a surprise from a director, who had once given us films like Mrityudand and Gangaajal. Check out a scene where a character is killed in his car. The way the scene is shot, as well as the hilariously bad performance of the actor in question, makes us wonder how this was even okayed in the first place.

The bad acting is not restricted to this one scene, but also lends itself to most of its supporting cast.

The main cast - Bobby Deol, Chandan Roy Sanyal (playing  Nirala's confidante who calls shots for him), Darshan Kumaar, Anupriya Goenka, Vikram Kochhar, Tridha Choudhury are good. Bobby is suitably arresting, but save for his intro scene, doesn't really get into scenery-chewing mode.

Aaditi Pohankar is the best of the lot as the anguished protagonist, though her arc gets lost in the second half of the series. Perhaps the next season will change that. Tushar Pandey carries the same act he did in Hum Chaar and Chhichhore.

However, the rest of the cast range from average to pretty mediocre, taking away some impact in several crucial scenes.

There are also a few gratuitous lovemaking scenes, with private parts being blurred in the most distracting way possible. Why even bother the need to have this form of self-censorship, when you could have just done away with leaving things to audience's imagination?

Unless, you want to titillate the viewer but don't want to cause needless controversy. If that's the case, MX Player's own Mastram shows how to do it better.

The first season of Aashram ends in, with what you can call, a mid-season break than a proper conclusion. Hopefully, the second season may be tighter in its delivery and performances.

Yay!

-  The Main Cast

- The Topical Themes

- Production Values

Nay!

- The Ordinary Execution

- The Lack of Surprises in the Narrative

- Distracting Supporting Cast

Final Thoughts

If the intentions are to expose how false godmen manage to entice public into being their gullible followers, Aashram does get its point clearly told. Sadly, the message is wrapped in a very ordinary packaging that deserves a little more charisma that its enigmatic antagonist has. Aashram is streaming on MX Player.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2020 10:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).