Haq Se Is A Fine Example Of How To  Use The Digital Platform

Haq Se

Web Series directed  by Ken Ghosh

Starring Rajeev Khandelwal, Surveen Chawla, Parul Gulati, Parvail Gulati

Rating: ***(3 stars)

It requires an abundance of guts and a residue of  audacity to  yank Louisa May Alcott’s 19^th century novel about women’s empowerment  into a modernday tale of love lies and  heartbreaks in Kashmir.

Director Ken Ghosh, with  the persuasive help of writers Devika Bhagat(didn’t she direct an Abhay Deol film once not too  long ago?) and dialogue writer RenukaKunzru, translocates and refurbishes  the original with a  full lot of flair and feelings.

 I was hoooked to the deeds and  misdeeds  of  the women in the Mirza family—their patriarch has gone missing at war—from the  first episode.While one sister lives in the world of music and poetry another thrives on being Kashmir’s hottest supermodel(strictly in her mind, that  is).There is an  aunt(played with grace and restrain by Simone Singh) who is a doomed disgraced relationship with a spineless politician

 Ghosh  captures the romance of  Kashmir and the  giggly romance IN Kashmir without undermining  the presentday tensions  in the Valley. We must remember that Alcott’s novel was  more about finding love than pursuing dreams. Ghosh’s series is not only about love and dreams  but also the accompanying nightmares I a society that is in a febrile state  of  bloodied flux.

The  series captures the sweaty tensions of  a people who assume  a life of ‘normal’ pursuits like courtship , romance,  commitment and  heartbreak as guns blaze and fires rage across  the  horizon.

 The  performances are evenly compelling. All the women in the Mirza family are played  by beautiful credible actresses who don’t spend time on screen posing and preening in local  outfits  but are actually seen getting into the skin  of their  characters. Surveen Chawla as the progressive yet repressed doctor-daughter of the family and Parul Gulati as  the outspoken blogger-beti, stand out, as do the ever-dependable Rajeev Khandelwal and Pavail Gulati as the two men in their lives.

 There is  a constant flow of interesting events, bolstered  by dialogues and  lines that do not appear to be borrowed  from greeting cards and  online poems. These people speak a convincing ménage  of  Hindi Urdu and English and the Mirza sisters often lace their heated arguments around the house with the ‘F’ word.

Tauba tauba.What is this world coming to?!

Haq Se is  well worth your time . Interestingly this is the second series in a row produced by Ekta Kapoor after the riveting Test Case to show women challenging men at their work places . This social awakening on the digital platform is welcome. Perhaps Ekta Kapoor can finally stop making regressive serials for Indian television.