Chutzpah starring Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh review: Our timelines revolving around algorithms

3/5

Story:

The seven-episode series follows the intersecting lives of a few individuals, interconnected in cyberspace as they navigate their adulthood. It takes a look at the omnipresence of social media and the prevalent obsession with it and its murky side along. The series also explores the temporal nature of the stardom of influencers, the boys’ locker room (changed to the guys’ locker room in the series) event and even dares to touch upon the religious intolerance aspect. 

Review:

Vikas Bhalla (Varun Sharma) is in a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend Shikha (Tanya Maniktala) and is struggling to adjust to his new life in the US. He longs to come back to India where he was used to getting everything on the platter, quite literally.  

Rishi (Manjot Singh) turns into a nervous wreck when it comes to talking to girls, Richa in particular. He turns to the embellished world of porn and meets a cam girl, Wild Butterfly (Elnaaz Norouzi), who is living a double life. 

 Kevin (Gautam Mehra) is a social media influencer, creating wacky content and repeating his favourite mantra: ‘like comment and share’. He is not only obsessed with social media statistics but also an influencer, in particular, Deepali Shah (Aashima Mahajan).

Deepali seems to be one of the biggest influencers with a cult following but even she isn’t spared the vicious trolling. She presents herself quite aesthetically on camera but hides her insecurities behind it. 

Pratik Chawla (Kshitij Chauhan) is the quintessential toxic womaniser, discarding his conquests after one night until he is given a dose of his own medicine.

In the beginning, the series comes across as a bit pretentious as if the show is trying too hard to attract viewers but still manages to hold the attention of the viewer as you are compelled to watch one episode after the other. 

What is impressive is how it touches upon various topics like the follower-icon relationship, comments by cowards behind screens dictating our lives, the trolling culture, boys locker room debate, a long-distance relationship and even a brief arc of a character which includes intolerance regarding a profession on the grounds of religion.

All the episodes are almost 30 minutes long, short and anything but sweet as they conclude the story without much meandering and are laugh out loud funny at a few moments.

Prateek’s arc revolves around the toxic boys’ locker event that came to the fore last year. The presence of his egotistical macho-ness on screen can be uncomfortable at times and triggering for a few viewers but when karma follows suit, it is just as satisfying. 

It is appreciable how it touches upon the topics mentioned above but dissatisfying how it barely scratches the surface. The script could have been better researched in that sense and some topics should have gotten the attention they were due. The writing could be stronger with wittier dialogues and could have broached other toxic instances taking place on the world wide web.

There were a few instances in the series with no visible consequences which seemed implausible. There were also several half-naked stories running along which were not explored properly. Do these loose ends hint towards another season?

The actors make the viewers' time worthwhile with their on-screen presence and convincing acting as their characters materialise.

Verdict:

The show is worth a watch with its relatable narration and situations one can empathise with. Don't wait for a rosy ending for all the characters though.

The series created by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba is now streaming on SonyLiv.