What Is the Story About?
Chikatgunde is an anthology series with the theme of lockdown. Short stories of four unique couples locked in various circumstances form the plot.
Performances?
Among the four couples, the best pair acting-wise is Sneha Majgaonkar and Suhas Sirsat. They play a middle-aged couple staying separately during the lockdown. The fact that we feel a chemistry between them even though they are not together should be enough to suggest why they are the best. They get all the tiniest bits of expression right and rise above the given material.
Sushant Gadghge and Chaitanya Sharma as young boys attracted to each other are good. They do a fair job in expressing apprehension and disappointment and eventually relief. The characterisations are routine, but they do their part well.
Shruti Marathe and Sarang Sathaye, Puskaraj Chirputkar and Swanandi Tikelkar had the most difficult job as pairs as there is nothing to hold on to beyond the talk and their antics. They are alright but suffer eventually due to weak stories and predictable writing.
Analysis
Abhay Raut as a director along with his technical team is behind the anthology series Chikatgunde. The premise is simple and many similar attempts have been made in the past couple of years.
The four shorts are Knock Knock, Cheat Day, Sexy Time and Kande Pohe. Sexy Time is easily the best of the lot as it offers something fresh and is also mostly engaging.
Sexy Time is about a middle-aged couple with a kid. They are living separately due to the unexpected lockdown. Everything feels routine until one of them has a naughty thought of having online sex. That it comes from the woman is well done.
The whole online sex angle has been crisply dealt with in the narrative without going overboard. Some instances could have been easily directed in that direction, but they are controlled. The short leaves with a little smile on our face and that’s a job well done.
In Kande Pone, Ishan and Manav play a young gay couple who are yet to come out openly. The sudden lockdown means the parents of Ishan are struck with them. The small tense moments and disappointments between Ishan and Manav are neatly captured here. There is a small twist in the tale towards the end which helps the whole narrative end on a positive note.
Cheat Day is just talk and talk without any plot in a true sense. The couple talks about some out of box ideas than what they are used to doing routinely. The lockdown forces them to take that route. It leads to some interesting conversations and that’s the mainstay of the short. The writing is not at its best, but it’s enough, in parts, to hold attention.
Knock Knock is closer in spirit to Cheat Day, only here one of the ‘spirit’ is taken literally. The short is about the issue of boredom in lockdown, and how a working couple copes with it and try to have fun. Unfortunately, it’s too long for such a wafer-thin plot. It ends up boring while talking about it.
The casting is good like is with the rest of the shorts, and the final moments offer some solace, but one would lose interest for sure by that time.
Overall, Chikatgunde as an anthology doesn’t have anything new to say or offer. A short work and a couple are middling, but it’s not enough to change the entire impression. If you want to have some quick fix bite of smile give Sexy Time a watch.
Music and Other Departments?
It is an anthology series, but the same technicians work on the individual shorts. Pranav Jantikar provides the music and the background score. It is alright although a lot happens in quieter moments. Aditya Divekar’s cinematography gives the whole thing a short film look. Given the low key deal here that’s to be expected, we guess. Anuja Bhandare’s editing is fine overall but should have been sharper in a Knock Knock. The writing is passable.
Highlights?
Sexy Time
Casting
Drawbacks?
Routine Stories
Knock Knock (Length)
Kande Pohe (Predictability)
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, In PartsWill You Recommend It?
Yes, But With Huge ReservationsChitakgunde Web series Review by Binged Bureau
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