It’s Not That Simple Review (Voot webseries)
Starring Swara Bhaskar, Purab Kohli,Sumeet Vyas, Vivan Bhatena
Directed by Danish Aslam
Rating: ***
Some sharp writing and plotting curves, not to mention a certain maturity in the level of some of the performances makes Voot’s new webseries It’s Not That Simple an enjoyable leisure activity.
The language used strikes a chord . The exchanges among the metropolitan characters may not reek of Confucian wisdom. But they sure as hell ring a bell.
And the bell of the ball(not averse to breaking into a bawl, or a brawl) Swara Bhaskara is in complete charge of her mercurial ambitious selfseeking practical and yet sensitive character Meera’s inner world. Meera is no snivelling apologetic discarded relic of a post-feminist world.
She is an architect with designs on the good life.She may dodder on high heels. But that won’t stop her from getting where she wants to.
In Season 1 Swara was gawky and uncertain. Now in Season 2 she has metamorphosed into a more assertive spunky spirited woman of the world who is not afraid to confront her sexuality and her needs, bodily and otherwise.
The series takes us through her rapidly-flowing interaction with the 3 men in her life.
Make it 4. There is also an ex-husband , played with selfdeprecating sensibleness by Karanveer Mehra who was seen trying to have sex with Meera and answering messages in his face in the first season. Now he does neither.hhis wife Meera has moved on leaving their 10-year old daughter to his care.
Three men seem interested in her. Meera’s interaction with the brooding media baron Angad(Purab Kohli) is the most interesting of all. Somone calls Meera a ‘c..ktease’. Angad is the tease of the opposite kind. He’s forever ribbing Meeraabout their sexual encounters that never happen.
There is a touch of bantering bitchiness and libidinous playfulness in the tone of narration which prevents theseselfimportant characters from looking ridiculous. The writing is coherent and the incidental characters such as the dirty-talking aunt(Shobha Khote)move into the script fairly organically.
But clearly the focus here is on Swara who looks svelte and gives her character a heft and heave that never seem manufactured . Some of the dialogues do sound like bumpersticker wisdom and whatsapp forwards. On the whole though the series gets the balls in the holes.
