‘Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi’ Review: Touches On A Truckload Of Sensitive Issues, But Gives Little Time To Process Them All
Let me be very honest with you. I saw an Indian series, that too based on in rural setting, for the first time. I had prejudice in mind that such series only show poverty and the poor getting exploited while the storylines also tend to get a bit repetitive. Even though Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi was set against a rural backdrop with all these elements in play, all it managed to do was swing back and forth between tragedy and comedy, that too unexpectedly. The series is a SonyLiv Originals which is directed by Rahul Pandey and Satish Nair and created by Kyra Kumar Kreations. The cast of the series includes Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Alka Amin, Vineet Kumar, Pankaj Jha, Akash Makhija, Kumar Saurabh, Garima Singh, Tanishq Rana and Ishita Ganguly. It is set to release on May 27, 2022.
Plot Of Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi
The story of this five-episode series is based on Nirmal Pathak who returns to his small village in Bihar after 24 years to attend his brother, Atish’s wedding. Even though it is his first cousin and they haven’t seen each other in 24 years, Atish treats him like Ram to his Lakshman. But Nirmal’s entry into the village does not start off on a shubh note. His luggage gets stolen and he also ends up losing his wallet at the station’s chai tapri. Plus, Atish tells him to jump off the moving train so as avoid getting kidnapped! All of this was too confusing to process for someone who is not aware of how things go about in Buxar, Bihar.
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Further ahead, when Nirmal reaches the house where he grew up, he receives a warm welcome. His family members are thrilled to have him home after 24 years and dot him like he is the little boy when his father left the house taking him along. Nirmal is in the village only for four days. During his stay, he sees how untouchability is still prevalent there and also how women are not allowed to pursue other careers than being a homemaker. And humare Nirmal bhaiya wants the residents of the village to fight against these social evils just at the snap of fingers and wants to bring about a revolutionary change in the village all during this four-day stay. What I also realised is Nirmal has a habit of poking his nose in matters that do not concern him at all and when that backfires, he gets butthurt.
Okay, so coming back to Nirmal and his family. Nirmal is shown to have two mothers, one who is an English speaking woman while another, the birth mother, who keeps her face covered in ghoonghat. His brother Atish also puts up with this nosy behaviour by Nirmal to an extent, but he, too, gets fed up with it and shows him the finger towards the end (figuratively speaking).
Cast And Characters
So the one good thing about this show was how the cast lived up to their characters. Their character arc gets better with each episode. The cast did do a slightly better job at portraying the emotions they felt. The frustration, the tears, the disappointment and the occasional happiness were well displayed. But all of this did not go hand-in-hand with the storyline.
The two characters that were my favourite were Alka Amin who played the role of Santoshi Pathak, Nirmal’s birth mother and Tanishq Rana, who played Nibha Pathak, Nirmal’s cousin. Alka Amin was the anchor who held this ship with her solid performance which would have otherwise tanked. Tanishq Rana was the chatpata achaar that adds a little zing to the whole dish you are having. I love how both these characters stand up for themselves and others everyone around them was just a mere spectator.
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Also read: ‘Tasalli Se’ Review: Short Story About Two Friends Reuniting After Years Is Sweet, Will Make You Want To Hug Your Best Friend
Verdict
My main question here is – what is this series trying to portray? Because it was trying to show a shehri babu trying to bring in a social change within four days, it did a bad job at it. The series left me confused as to what to feel about it or what I, as an audience, was expected to feel. It also felt broken in so many places that it was far beyond repair. Plus, the random swinging between comedy and tragedy did not allow me to process any scene properly. The series had a good plot and would have been a hit, had the weird concoction of half-baked acting and random comedy punches not been thrown in.
Rating
1.5/5
