It’s only about Tanie Brar (Anya Singh).
Set in London with natty clothes for all this season, director Harsh Dedhia’s Tanie-Sumer (Nakuul Mehta) love story could’ve happened in Patiala or Ludhiana for all that it says.
The outward polish of working women, women with brains and women on the board, looks progressive but it’s essentially chick fare. So even if boss woman Lavanya (Sarah Jane Dias in a stern ponytail) is fighting all odds to get her first web series off the ground and stake her claim on the board of directors, it’s her writer Tanie’s wavering heart that eats up all the footage.
Style is exuded because of the London backdrop but the technique is old season with Tanie and the 4th wall which has her talking into the camera like Kevin Spacey in House Of Cards. “Sumer and I, working with maturity as director and writer,” Tanie will say, in case you’ve missed the point.
The collaboration of five writers yields a typical romcom with banal dialogues. “You’re my comfort, like rajma-chawal” and “Here’s a fun fact” are all packaged like a Punjabi film. Tanie’s mother Happy (Nikki Walia) cooks, feeds and interferes in people’s love lives, only to say ‘sorry’ in the last episode. Mama Bittu (Jaaved Jafferi) has his own (hardly entertaining) 30-year love story that leads him to restaurateur Sangeeta (Deepti Bhatnagar). And there are background scores with montage shots for Tanie-Karan, Sumer-Lavanya and couples who date looking confused.
Ex-lovers Tanie the writer and Sumer Singh Dhillon the director are thrown together by Lavanya who has to prove that she has what it takes before her brother usurps all her inheritance.
Lavanya’s dilemma is muted while the focus is on the ups and downs in the Tanie-Sumer relationship with actor Karan (Karan Wahi) walking into their universe. Soon Tanie has it all – friendship, love, a job that celebrates her writing prowess and a family that’s pure Punjabi mush.
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But she’s the one who’s depressed, in despair, in a dilemma and in need of emotional repair as she jabbers into the camera before deciphering what love and friendship are all about.
Lavanya’s show is in deep trouble but nobody’s in a tizzy to resolve it for the spotlight has to be on Tanie with Uncle Bittu, Tanie with Sumer, Tanie with Karan, Tanie and the camera with even time off for strained comedy with the oldies.
As frivolous as a schoolgirl’s crush, it’s the youthful charm of the threesome, Anya, Nakuul and Karan, that keeps it going over eight episodes.
Just wish it would be a wee bit more substantial, more original and certainly more entertaining the next time around.
Watch trailer of Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2: