Ghar Waapsi Review: Vishal Vashishtha's Disney+ Hotstar Series is One of 2022's Most Endearing Offerings! (LatestLY Exclusive)

Ghar Waapsi Review: There are certain movies and show where you start watching as an evaluator but end up being their joyful, smitten fan, looking desperate for the next person to share your opinion on the same. Dice Media's Ghar Waapsi, directed by Ruchir Arun, on Disney+ Hotstar is one such show. Yes, my review is late by one week after its premiere on the OTT platform, and I finally got to watch it after hearing some wonderful things about the show. Thankfully, those wonderful things aren't mere hearsay, and Ghar Waapsi is as delectable as a scrumptious plate of dahi kachori. Ghar Waapsi Trailer: Vishal Vashishtha-Starrer Showcases How A Commoner Tries To Find Balance Between Family Life And Profession.

Shekhar Dwivedi aka Sunny (Vishal Vashishtha) is a 28yo software who finds himself fired from a  startup company in Bengaluru. Without proper employment and with rising EMIs on the side, Sunny returns to his hometown in Indore for the time being, while planning to seek out employment from there. His parents (Atul Srivastava and Vibha Chhiber) are happy to see him back. His younger sister Suruchi (Anushka Kaushik) is also glad to have her elder brother with her, though Sunny feels she isn't as forthcoming with him as she used to be once.

His younger brother Sanju (Saad Bilgrami), however, resents his presence, already suffering from the middle child syndrome. Sunny doesn't tell them of his employment status, though that secret is out of the bag before the first episode ends.

Watch the Trailer:

All of six episodes, Ghar Waapsi doesn't offer any ground-shattering plotlines or a plethora of unpredictable twists as such. In fact many of the plot developments can be easily smelt even before the second episode is over. So what works?

Emotions.

The emotions that the writing (Bharat Misra and Tatsat Pandey) generates add quite the heft to the proceedings; the biggest victory of the series is how you could relate to nearly each and scene, and with each and every character. Especially if you, like Shekhar, have a small-town upbringing. The family scenes are the real highlights, with every character, from the parents to younger siblings, getting fleshed out within the perspective of the protagonist. Then there is Ajitesh Gupta, who is fantastic and totally endearing as that one friend in your life whom we always take for granted.

Even Shekhar's scenes with his girlfriend Riddhima (Akansa Thakur) are pleasing to watch; and when things do sail rough for the couple, Ghar Waapsi doesn't let the rudder loose off this relationship. The humour is understated and amiable, and pleasantly comes out at unexpected circumstances. There is a scene where Shekhar's mother berates his sister for having a Punjabi boyfriend, and Shekhar blurts out about having a love that is one forbidden level above having a Punjabi boyfriend. When the mother blurts out 'Sindhi?', you can't help but smile there, despite how serious the whole scene is!

But it is not just the family scenes or the romantic track that makes Ghar Waapsi tick. It is how the show stacks up these plotlines against the weary rat-race of a world we live in and are slaves of, and then remind us of what we are missing out on in the process. In doing so, Ghar Waapsi doesn't come across as too naive or unrealistic, it is grounded in setting those expectations. At times, it becomes too real and too scary. Like the frequent reminders of the permeating fear of losing your job one day, or even losing out of the favour with your boss. Or the dying of small business that we once depended on as the world sees an implosion of online services in the digital age.

There are terrifying ideas that are presented in the show - terrifying because we all live in the fear of them, one way or the other. And in facing that terror, Ghar Waapsi urges the viewer to seek hope and solace in those who has our best interests in their hearts, even if in their own flawed ways.

Like I said before, the show isn't something you haven't seen before. At times it felt like Swades, only our Mohan Bhargav is in the country itself and it is his home calling him. There are also touches of two Malayalam movies I had watched and loved in the past - Vineeth Sreenivasan's Jacobinte Swargarajyam (there is a suspiciously similar travel agency track here apart from the family coming together in the crisis) and Anwar Rasheed's Ustad Hotel (the protagonist caught between pursuing his dreams and living up to his legacy back home). Not sure if these are deliberate influences, but nothing wrong if so, if the inspiration turns out to be a worthy and heartfelt successor. Escaype Live Review: Siddharth And Jaaved Jaaferi's Disney+ Hotstar Series Bares The Dark Side Of Viral Trends But Suffers From an Uneven Execution.

Ghar Waapsi isn't perfect. There are some convenient plot tropes used to proceed the storyline ahead, like the show skips a few steps ahead in showing how Shekhar reinvents his father's travel agency, or the somewhat easy manner in which he manages to snatch his 'dream job'. The third episode slacks in pacing where the predictability pinches you. However, the show picks up everything and works them up to reserve the best for the final two episodes, that is bound to leave you both in smiles and tears.

As far as the performances go, every actor has done a fantastic work here. Neeraj Sood, Vibha Chibber, Saad Bilgrami, and Anushka Kaushik are lovable as the protagonist's family. Akansha Thakur is charming as Shekhar's patient and supportive girlfriend. Of course, I already told you about the scene-stealing Ajitesh Gupta (I just realised the stretch of portions that lagged missed having him on screen for a considerable time).

• But above all, it is Vishal Vashishtha's performance that gets you the most. The writing around the character deserves special mention, as his trials and tribulations make him as real as possible. Vishal, a popular television star, lends so much naturalism and vulnerability to his act, that even when Shekhar is at his standoffish mode, you don't align away from him.

Yay!

- The Performances, The Writing and The Simplistic Direction

- The Final Two Episodes

Nay!

- Some Slack in the Middle Episode

Final Thoughts

Ghar Waapsi is one of the most endearing, most relatable shows to come out on Indian OTT space this year. The performances, the writing and the topical themes all come together for a heartwarming series that should be on your binge-watch this weekend, if you haven't already. All six episodes of Ghar Waapsi are streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2022 09:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).