Media Magick

Pandemic has seen the rise of Indian web series but not every other web series can be termed as binge-watch-worthy. There are very few series that engage viewers through their subject, treatment, reality-checks and gripping storytelling. Knowing the craft of Prakash Jha through his films, it is obvious that Jha’s digital debut wouldn’t be any lesser of a surprise. Jha has the ability to load a lot of sense and meaningfulness in to his films, imagine what he would have done in a web series that is 9 episodes long with 35 to 45 minutes of run-time each episode! You can only expect “Sparks” and nothing else.

Trailer – Aashram

Prakash Jha, over the years, has made films that circle around political nuances, caste divisions, injustice in the society and Indian police saluting corrupt politicians rather than taking the stand that they want to take. Before even giving it a thought that whether you should watch Aashram or not just watch a few films by Prakash Jha like Gangajal, Aarakhshan, Apharan and Satyagraha. If you have liked these movies based on the context and content then you will thoroughly enjoy Aashram. Aashram exposes the con-men who are known as God-Men in the society with complete finesse. The web series highlights how grand and deep the nexus is and how impossible it is to annihilate it.

Casting Bobby Deol in the main lead as Kaashipur Waalay Baba (aka Monty Singh / Niraala Baba) must have been a difficult task as Bobby is one actor who has not been giving hits for quite some time and casting an actor whose comeback film Race 3 was also a meme-material should not be easy. But one has to admit; Bobby Deol pulls off his part well and gives a balanced performance that was needed to play Nirala Baba. In a few scenes, Bobby excels well and in other he just uses his eyes and calmness to put the message across. What Saambha was to Gabbar, in Aashram, is Bhupinder (Chandan Roy Sanyal) to Nirala Baba; Chandan Roy Sanyal is always a delight to watch. If you remember him from Kaminey, Kaanchi or D-Day then you must know how impactful this actor is. Chandan gives another noteworthy performance.

Aashram showcases a decently weaved story that encompasses many people from different sects, religious backgrounds, socio-political classes and cultural norms. In India, caste-system is not new and many filmmakers highlighted this issue from time to time, for instance J.P. Dutta in Ghulaami, Batwaara and Kshatriya; Vidhu Vinod Chopra in Eklavya and Anubhav Sinha in Article 15. The interesting point is, the first episode of Aashram took me back to Ghulami’s scene where Kalbhushan Kharbanda takes his son on horse-ride for his wedding. 30 years down highlighting the same issue tells a lot about India’s culture, belief and norms at-large. There are many other scenes that stick to viewers’ mind making them think that this is something that they usually do in their daily lives because they are either brought up the same way or they have been instilled with the teachings that they have never questioned.

Prakash Jha raises concerns and question layer by layer, with effective narration. Characters are believable and relevant to the society that we live in. There are Naastiks (non-believers), Aastiks (theist) and practical people who prefer worldly gains no matter what happens. Aashram is scattered with interesting characters. There is a young girl Pammi (Aditi Pohankar) who wants to become a wrestler, an “order” following police officer Ujagar Singh (Darshan Kumar) with his side kick Sadhu (Vikram Kochhar), a youth sensation – Rapper Tinka Singh (Adhyayan Suman) and a headstrong reporter Akki (Rajeev Sidhartha) besides many others.

Everyone’s life in one way or the other is affected by Nirala Baba. Everyone either wants to be in the Aashram or wants to unmask what happens in there. The first season of Aashram starts slow but it engages, the makers want audience to understand each and every character by showing their pluses and minuses very smartly. By the end of 1^st season’s 9^th (last) episode you will want to know more and watch more; that is the winning streak of Prakash Jha’s Aashram. With bankable actors, good script, interesting twists and turns Aashram is highly recommended. CGI and VFX are the two areas that are quite badly done in the series. The webseries Aashram is available on MX Player.