Why ‘Pushpavalli’ should creep into your watchlist!
Are you a dumb single girl in her 20s madly in one-sided love with a hot guy? Or were you that girl at one point of time in your life? Or have you known (and judged) such a person? You probably answered yes to one of these questions.
Pushpavalli is a story about one such girl, and the ensuing mess.
Here is an review of the first season of the series, spoiler free!
Overview
The first season of Pushpavalli was released back in 2017. I never gave it much attention, it wasn’t heavily promoted and the title isn’t very catchy either. But, one fine day when I ran out of comedic content to watch, I decided to give it a try.
The show is the brainchild of Sumukhi Suresh, and is inspired by her own life experiences. Directed by Debbie Rao, it features familiar faces in the still-growing urban comedy scene such as Naveen Richard, Urooj Ashfaq, Sumaira Shaikh, Kumar Varun, Rahul Subramaniam and a cameo by Kenny Sebastian as well.
Plotline (No spoilers)
Pushpavalli (Sumukhi Suresh) is the title character, and this show is her insane journey. She lives in Bhopal, has a couple of friends, goes to college, and has an overbearing mother who regularly body-shames her. She is actually quiet funny and intelligent – which catches the eye of Nikhil Rao. (Nikhil is played by Manish Anand, or as 00s kids remember him, VJ Manish from channel V.)
Nikhil Rao is handsome, charming, suave, confident and exports bhindi for a living. He is probably the hottest bhindi seller in the world, and is pretentious enough to call it ‘okra’. Even his company’s name O.K. Rao exports, is a pun on okra. They meet and part ways after having fun at a food conference.
But Pushpavalli develops something for this guy who gave her attention, which can only be described as limerence.
Supporting characters, aka the real flavor of ‘Pushpavalli’ :
And so Pushpa ends up in Bangalore where she pretends to work for her former school friend Pankaj (Naveen Richard), while bribing a tea seller (Ashok Pathak) to spy on Nikhil at his office. The tea-seller, hilariously named ‘T boi’ is a very unique character, one of my favorites in the show. The audience can relate to him in a way, because he is also always wondering “What is this Pushpavalli up to now?”
Pankaj on the other hand is angry, commanding, yet cares about Pushapavalli who often deceits him for her own end.
Pushpavalli also deals with her angry PG aunty, Vasu (played by the extremely talented RJ Shraddha), and anyone who has lived in a PG will see parts of their aunty reflected in her. Shraddha takes the character up a notch, with a hockey stick, Kannada dialogs, printed nighties and amusingly misnaming everyone.
Also present in the PG are a couple of level-headed girls (Breshna Khan and Niharika Dutt) who act as foil for the crazy Pushpavalli, and a couple of girls who are batshit cray cray. The duo Tara (Urooj Ashfaq) and Shristi (Sumaira Shaikh) are evil, disturbing and extremely entertaining.
Cutting to the chase :
Throughout season 1, Pushpavalli faces multiple challenges in pursuit of her quarry.
Her mom, who always has good intentions, sends a suitable boy for her to marry. She sends her to a Guruji (Kumar Varun), who tells her to go back to Bhopal (bummer).
Her angry friend/employer, Pankaj, takes none of her crap. There is Swati (Preetika Chawla), who is sweet, a single-mother and a little too close to her old friend Nikhil. She also has to deal with Nikhil’s mother (Yasmine Sait), who is extremely stone-like and unwelcoming, unlike her son.
However, armed with intelligence, cunning and a strong willpower which can only come from an obsessive attachment – Pushpa overcomes every hurdle. Well, almost.
The catch :
As she chases Nikhil’s attention, she gets caught up in her own trap of scheming and stalking. The season ends on a dark note, with Pushpavalli coming to a realisation, expressing her sorrow in an emotional monologue. At the very end, she ties up loose ends, leaves Bangalore but she hasn’t really moved on. The audience is left with a question, as the character looks into the camera and the screen goes black.
Summary :
Pushpavalli might have the same crazy stalker girl trope, but what makes it stand out is the unique Indian-ness of the humor. The acting isn’t mind blowing, but it passes. You should give it a try, once.
Rating :
Trigger warnings : None
