What Is the Story About?
Prime Video India’s new original series ‘Dil Dosti Dilemma’ follows a bratty, privileged young girl Asmara (Anushka Sen), whose insensitive blunder costs her a much-anticipated summer trip to Canada. Instead, her horrified parents banish her to middle-class Tibri Road, to live with her old-fashioned grandparents. There, in the midst of the unsophisticated surroundings, she learns valuable life lessons.
Dil Dosti Dilemma is written by Anuradha Tiwari, Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Raghav Dutt and Manjiri Pupala, and directed by Debbie Rao. It is adapted from Andaleeb Wajid’s 2016 novel, ‘Asmara’s Summer’.
Performances?
Anushka Sen is the heart and soul of Dil Dosti Dilemma. She’s put in a cracking performance, with just the right degree of brash and bratty to her portrayal. Her refined acting never goes over the top or over-melodramatic, thus endearing the character to the audiences.
Tanvi Azmi and Shishir Sharma are superb as her grandparents. It’s fun to watch the two in action. Kush Jotwani has delivered a sophisticated performance as Asmara’s love interest, Farzaan. He’s cool, calm, and yes, comely.
Vishakha Pandey is cute as his sister Rukhsana. Suhasini Mulay, as their crabby old grandmother, is a revelation. Elisha Mayor and Revathi Pillai are passable as Asmara’s equally snobbish besties, Tania and Naina. The rest of the cast, including Priyanshu Chatterjee, Mahesh Thakur, Shruti Seth, does a commendable job.
Analysis
Dil Dosti Dilemma is the kind of show that you can watch when you have time to kill, and then conveniently forget about when more pressing matters beckon. It’s like the umpteen frothy ‘Mills And Boons’ romance novels that teenaged girls devour by the dozen in their summer vacations, only to forget about them when school starts for the new year.
In other words, Dil Dosti Dilemma is an engaging but forgettable show, one like many young adult shows that populate the contemporary entertainment space. It is entertaining to watch in the moment, but you forget about it the minute you switch off your device.
The narrative is studded with tropes – the three besties are rich, sophisticated girls, with only fashion and boys on their mind. They use terms such as “Awesome Threesome” to describe themselves; look down upon the “tackolina” type of girls – too unstylish, unsophisticated, uncool for them; and more. They are vacuous and superficial, to the extent that Asmara calls her own middle class-looking Nani (Tanvi Azmi) an acquaintance in front of her friends.
Once Asmara moves to the decidedly downmarket neighbourhood of Tibri Road, the story moves forward in an even more predictable pattern. After the initial hiccups, she begins to settle in—and horror of horrors—turns into the quintessential saviour for the locality. She has solutions for every problem, though quite simplistic ones; is the veritable know-it-all, and becomes the Bengaluru high-society version of the done-to-death white/male saviour.
Other than the primary premise, the subplots in the story are quite tedious to watch. Naina’s infatuation with the local hunk, Tanya’s snooping around in her parents’ lives, and other tracks are quite boring not to say, cringey.
The young lead cast of Dil Dosti Dilemma makes the show somewhat watchable, and saves it from being a total washout, especially and particularly Anushka Sen. There’s an earnestness and honesty in her performance that make her eminently watchable.
To sum it up, Dil Dosti Dilemma is quite entertaining to watch, with boring bits in between that you can fast-forward. It’s also a show that barely makes any kind of impact, thus rendering it a forgettable and inconsequential addition to the OTT content space.
Music and Other Departments?
Sid Paul’s musical score is apt for the story at hand. The unlikeable part of it is that it is heavily inspired by the signature musical interludes of Game Of Thrones. Deep Metkar’s camerawork is average. Sharmistha Roy’s production design is an asset for the show. Vaishak Ravi Vasu’s editing is efficient.
Highlights?
Anushka Sen’s earnest, natural performance
Drawbacks?
Boring subplots
Tropey and contrived at times
Did I Enjoy It?
Only in parts
Will You Recommend It?
Only for the younger crowd
Dil Dosti Dilemma Series Review by Binged Bureau
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