Cast: Kusha Kapila, Divyenndu, Vinay Pathak, Kabir Bedi, Bhagyashree Director: Prem Mistry Language: Hindi Birthing comedies out of tragedies is no cakewalk. Jim Carrey has mastered the art of blending the contrasting emotions and so have many actors here on Indian celluloid. Recently, we had Divyenndu doing the same with Madgaon Express and now he jumps in to a show called Life Hill Gayi .
It’s about three generations coming together unlike Kal Aaj Aur Kal . This isn’t a drama by any chance, it’s supposed to be a comedy but a comedy that only illicits faint smiles, never a full blown laugh. So Kabir Bedi has a son (Vinay Pathak) and two grandchildren ( Kusha Kapila and Divyenndu) and these kids have been bestowed with the responsibility to renew their hotel in a beautiful landscape and the one who succeeds inherits all the wealth.
And since the conflict unfolds in a hotel, we get the excuse for introducing all sorts of characters, from relatable to idiosyncratic to just plain idiots. We have seen a couple of them on YouTube so we can sense they’ll pretty much do here what they do there. This is a show where the characters are not making things happen, things are happening to them, and we have to sit back and (not) enjoy.
Kusha keeps a straight face, mostly. She’s bogged down by the pressure to deliver so that she can claim the fortune. Divyenndu, who delivered rollicking fun in Madgaon Express , is mostly restrained (or was he bored?) And Kabir Bedi and Vinay Pathak truly deserve better.
It would be any day more entertaining for us to watch reruns of Bedi, Rekha, and an alligator, or Pathak as the unwanted guest at Rajat Kapoor’s house. Director Prem Mistry and story writer Jasmeet Singh Bhatia try their best to sail the sinking ship of a series by adding as much chaos as possible with the help of countless gags. It’s like throwing all the darts that you have with the hope of striking at least one bulls eye.
They keep throwing, you keep watching. There’s a surprise cameo towards the climax, which gives us a hint for season two. Which means the darts are still being thrown, which means we still have to watch.
Saand Ki Aankh! Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars) Life Hill Gayi is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
