Pyaar Testing review: And the search for originality in Satyajeet Dubey-Plabita Borthakur's series continues

2/5

Pyaar Testing Story:

Two friends co-incidentally end up in an arranged marriage setup. The woman is adamant about a live-in setup before the wedding, and somehow convinces everyone into it. Then comes a deal-breaker moment when the two just start feeling the love. Will their relationship survive?

Pyaar Testing Review:

Zee5's latest offering Pyaar Testing (available for streaming on OTTplay Premium) was probably made with the intent of having a trial period to understand human relationships. The makers wished to break the stereotype around live-in relationships before a wedding and how the society perceives it. Of course, the intention behind the project is good but imagine feeling like you have entered an old, ever-changing Bollywood film every 10 minutes. To make matters worse, the focus suddenly shifts to the obsession with vegan food and enforcing it upon the partner. Pretty bizarre and unclear, right? That is exactly what nearly 3-hour journey into Pyaar Testing feels like.

The series begins with a chaotic mid-night shot, with both our leads fleeing from their homes (Jab We Met meets NH10 vibes). Almost instantly, there's a song attached and despite the chaos, it works. Plabita Borthakur's Amruta and Satyajeet Dubey's Dhruv are introduced through their mutual friends (who happen to be bride and groom), and the best part is that she takes the lead. However, it is the random shots and sub-par acting that leaves you distracted.

Set in Rajasthan, the series gives the vibe of a musical-drama, even if at the face of it, Pyaar Testing is not that. Nothing in particular attracts you to the series, given how the actors do not have scenes worth acting in particular or a storyline that makes you go wow.

Like Dhruv says, "Life ko ek experiment ki tarah jeena chahiye." While this experiment fails, it was worth exploring because there was potential (wasted here).

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The series brings out the views of a girls' family over the idea of a 'live-in relationship' before wedding. The mother casually saying, "7 hi toh phere hai, kar le," is exactly why a film like Mrs. ends up hitting hard - because of the close-mindedness of families when it comes to a wedding, rules set by patriarchal society and having lack of vision when it comes to women of the country. Almost right after, there's a scene where the sister switches from aggressive to reasonable - explaining how she and her husband were on the verge of divorce but planned a baby instead, thinking it is the ultimate solution to their problems. Even more abrupt moments erupt since randomly, Dhruv's family agrees to the idea of the trial period. Everything after just drags on.

The Zingaat party has a Mohabbatein deja vu, which ends up with cute twists, but of course, it is nothing like the original deal. The storyline moves forward abruptly and there's little to look forward to. There's a cute love story apart from Dhruv and Shruti, and that impresses but only a little.

Even when the series offers some magical moments, the problem is that there's no original music for it to feel like the moment belongs to the series exclusively. Baar Baar Dekho song Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is beautiful and brings flavour to any romantic moment, but it appears like you are taken back to Jai and Diya's story rather than living the lives of Dhruv and Amruta. That is one major setback with this particular series. The lack of innocence which follows does not help develop the romantic plot either. The leads are just back to their own lives like the night never happened or mattered.

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Making a big deal out of vegan food is the most disappointing part of the series. In times where sacrifice goes two-way, there's red flag behaviour all the way, and three episodes after a major moment in the initial episodes only focus on that – vegan food superiority, only to state that food is a personal preference.

Just when you think that maybe the series might be heading somewhere, you see similarities with Badrinath Ki Dulhania, in particular Badri (Varun Dhawan)'s bond with his Rajasthani father. Eventually, obviously, things fall into place but it takes the very last moments of the last episode. After a lot of drama and adamant behaviour. Thus, even towards the end, there's little to save the series.

Pyaar Testing Verdict:

There's very little that Pyaar Testing has to offer. If you can settle for mediocre acting and a story that had potential but is not tapped into fully, then you can watch this one. Otherwise it is worth a skip rather than stream.