What Is the Story About?
Indori Ishq on MX Player can be best described as the poor man’s Kabir Singh – except, here the story does not end with the hero getting the girl. Not that Kabir Singh was any good either.
Kunal Marathe (Ritwik Sahore) is a promising student in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He falls in love with his classmate, Tara (Vedika Bhandari); and from then on, his life goes downhill. Cheated in love by Tara not once but twice, he takes recourse in alcohol to blunt the pain of betrayal. Along the way, he makes friends with happy-go-lucky Mahesh (Aashay Kulkarni), a gold-hearted prostitute, Reshma (Donna Munshi), and myriad other people who influence his life in some way or the other.
Indori Ishq is written by Kunal Marathe (yes, Ritwik’s character in Indori Ishq has been named after the writer of the series) and directed by Samit Kakkad. It is produced by Sunir Khetarpal of Azure Entertainment.
Performances?
Ritwik Sahore is acutely miscast as the alcoholic, brokenhearted Kunal. The poor actor does try to invoke his inner ‘Kabir Singh‘, but fails miserably. Having watched him in the superb ‘Flames’ and the terrific ‘Lakhon Mein Ek’, it’s a shock to see him blow up all his good work in Indori Ishq. He’s done himself a solid disfavour by taking up this terrible role.
Vedika Bhandari is lackadaisical as Tara. Aashay Kulkarni is average, as are the sundry other actors. Donna Munshi’s is one of the better performances in the series.
Analysis
Indori Ishq is a classic example of the adage ‘lost in translation’. The core premise may have looked good on paper – what if the tables are turned and it’s a man who is betrayed by a woman? What if it’s the woman who is infidel and cheats on her boyfriend? What if it’s the woman who makes love with a man after dangling before him the carrot of marriage and a happily-ever-after? Will she then be charged with rape under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code?
For the uninformed, Section 375 of the IPC states, besides other things, that if a man has sex with a woman after promise of marriage or misrepresentation or fraud, he is liable to be charged with rape. Indori Ishq asks the question that if it’s a man at the receiving end of the fraud, can he press rape charges against the woman? As we said, quite a pertinent question – but only on paper.
Coz there’s many a slip between cup and lip. Thinking up a unique, compelling story is one thing; writing an equally gripping screenplay for the thought is another; and executing it such that it turns out to be an engaging watch is a completely different ball game altogether. Indori Ishq falters in both of the latter.
What you get in Indori Ishq is a tedious, overlong clone of Kabir Singh, which gets even more annoying owing to the insufferable, distasteful sex scenes and copious use of expletives; oh God, the expletives! There’s not a single dialogue in Indori Ishq that is not peppered with cuss words – the choicest ‘desi’ cuss words. After a while, all that spouting of abuse begins to get on one’s nerves.
About the narrative of Indori Ishq, the least said the better. Ritwik Sahore‘s character spends the entire runtime of nine episodes in an alcohol-fuelled haze. If he’s not shown drinking, then he’s shown lying sprawled in the squalor of the sleazy area he finds residence in after Tara’s betrayal. Why anyone would want to leave the lavish apartment he’s staying in to live in those sordid surroundings is beyond us. He could have nursed his broken heart in the luxury of the absent Vikram Bhaiya’s flat, for God’s sake. But no, Kunal Marathe has to move to a stinky, seedy, one-room tenement in the sleaziest area of Mumbai – maybe to show off his pain better? Along the way, Kunal chucks a seat in a reputed college, blows up his parent’s hard-earned money that was meant to fund his college education; and does all kinds of weird reckless stuff.
That pretty much sums up Indori Ishq. The same sequences keep playing again and again – different scenes of course, but the gist is the same. Kunal drinks, chain smokes, falls into a drunken stupor, wakes up – and then does all of the above, all over again. Oh yes, we forgot – he also gets cheated repeatedly – by the same woman, that too. Jeez, what a loser!
To sum it up, Indori Ishq is nothing but the tedious tirade of a man who wasn’t taught by his parents to stand up for himself. To make an entire series on one flimsy premise is laughable; and said series is eminently avoidable!
Music and Other Departments?
The music of Indori Ishq is one of its better aspects. Though the songs are not memorable, they are pleasing to listen to in the course of the series. The editing and cinematography are average.
Highlights?
None
Drawbacks?
Ritwik Sahore’s casting is a major miss
Story, screenplay, direction are below par
Too much sex and abuse kill whatever little interest the story generates
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
Indori Ishq Web Series Review by Binged Bureau
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