Saas, Bahu Aur Achaar Pvt Ltd Review: Saas-bahu stories have become almost a slang thanks to the tragedy called Indian Television. The content is so one-dimensional, depressing, appalling and damaging that it has alienated an entire generation from all things TV. Saas, Bahu Aur Achar Pvt Ltd  cleanses that image but unfortunately, doesn't achieve its purpose in entirety here. Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd Trailer: Amruta Subhash-Starrer Promises To Be A Heartwarming And Inspiring Tale; Show To Premiere On ZEE5 On July 8 (Watch Video).

Suman (Amrita Subhash) is trying to start a pickle business of her own after her divorce from Dilip (Anup Soni). She faces a lot of struggle from learning to get out of her shell to showing great acumen for the trade. She is ably supported by her mother-in-law played by Yamini Das and her neighbour Shukla (Anandeshwar Dwivedi). Dilip, on the other hand, is now married to Manisha (Anjana Sukhani). Suman and Dilip's kids live with the latter. The story is about how this pickle business opens old wounds and heals a few too.

The thing with series created by Arunabh Kumar, the founder of TVF, is he gets the pulse right of every small town, be it the setting, the people, the language, the essence and even the struggle. In Saas Bahu Aur Achaar too, where he has co-writers Abhishek Srivastava and Akansh Gaur,  all that are presented in perfect proportions, transporting you to Daryaganj, Delhi. It's a story of women empowerment and many women will actually identify with Suman, especially the ones who suddenly find themselves without a husband or a support. The best part, the series doesn't demonise the saas (mother-in-law) or the saut (the other woman).

But despite the good intentions, Saas, Bahu Aur Achaar stops short of being a great watch. The writers seem a bit confused whether to keep the tone profound or use light-hearted medium to say a poignant tale. It keeps oscillating between the two without making any impact. It doesn't deep dive into Suman's inhibitions as much as it should have. A few scenes here and there is all you get to understand her state of mind.

There is angst in Suman for the way Dilip treated her, leaving her with nothing, not even her kids. That's very weakly presented. Sometimes calculated and controlled melodrama can uplift a thought-process as well. One just needs to know where to draw a line. Also, all the hurdles Suman faces don't get time to build their premise and are immediately sorted out. So you don't feel the push and pull of the scenarios. Hence, her achievements don't feel like triumphs but more like ticking checkboxes.

It tries to deal with other aspects in the milieu as well like kids gravitating towards drugs due to broken family issues. It's hurriedly wrapped up without any takeaway. Dilip's anger at finding out about Suman's business is not probed enough for you to figure out what actually is going on in his mind.

Watch Saas Bahu Aur Achar Pvt. Ltd trailer

Performances are just incredible. Although not much attention is paid to the character graphs here, the actors have done a splendid job. Amrita Subhash's portrayal of Suman is so sincere you would want to see more of her. Anup Soni is fine in his weakly-written role and so is Yamini Das. Anadeshwar Dwivedi as Shukla is effectual. It is nice to see Anjana Sukhani on the OTT screen. This suits her. Anjana Sukhani on Depression: All I Remember is Blurting out my Feelings in Tears.

Yay!

- The setting

- Performances

Nay!

-unexciting flow

-underdefined characters

-hurried subplots

Final Thoughts:

Sometimes you come across a series which doesn't really have a glaring flaw and yet it fails to leave an impact. Saas Bahu Aur Achaar Pvt. Ltd falls in the same category. Saas Bahu Aur Achaar Pvt. Ltd streams on ZEE5.

Rating:2.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2022 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).