Righto Lefto review: An intermittently engaging sitcom with a quirky premise

2.5/5

Story:

Abhi, the son of a rich industrialist DR, is an aspirant film director. His father isn’t in favour of his idea to build a career in films and asks him to work under his uncle Bantu. However, to free himself from his father's clutches, Abhi hatches a plan to launch a fictional start-up with the help of his friends Chip and Einstein. Will Abhi prove successful in hiding his true colours from his family?

Review:

Sitcoms, more than a story, needs compelling characters with a funny bone that don’t take themselves too seriously and land in uncanny situations. An awareness of the thin line that separates humour from outlandishness is the key to getting it right. Above all, it rests on the comedy timing of the actors to bring it alive. Righto Lefto, ETV Win’s first Telugu web series, has the right premise to have a crack at the genre.

The story revolves around a make-believe startup that Abhi and his friends fool around with, while he buys some time to kickstart his film career. The humour is born out of unusual situations while the friends mess around with their careers and personal lives. If Abhi is the saner man among the friends, Einstein is the science geek and Chip, as the name suggests, is the computer enthusiast.

However, despite its intentions, goofball characters and wacky scenarios, Righto Lefto struggles to live upto its potential. The show frequently alternates between being tolerable and partly funny. The situations are well ideated but in most cases, either the dialogues are too dull or the performances fall short. Precisely, the humour just doesn’t land despite the ideal setup.

Righto Lefto works best when it sticks to simple, relatable situations and isn’t too desperate for laughs. You identify with Abhi when he is on the lookout for funny one-liners from his daily life for his scripts. Chip draws your attention with his wicked antics - his unsuccessful attempts to woo Ananya and their verbal banters are hilarious. Einstein’s deadpan humour is partly entertaining.

Funny or not, there’s an innocence in this show and its characters that makes you sit through the episodes even when the laughs dry up. Abhi is genuinely looking to further his ambitions. Chip, as one of the characters says, is harmless, even if his behaviour suggests otherwise. Einstein is trying every trick in the book to come up with something out of the box. As free-spirited women, you believe in Ananya and Aditi’s need for independence.

What doesn’t work? The entire episode on the mysterious Instagram lover and the girls’ attempt to thwart his advances using pepper spray sticks out like a sore thumb. Another thread around an AI robot and the idea to parody Telugu news channels are exaggerated beyond necessity. The saga around Abhi’s meeting with a film producer named ‘Dil Aravind Babu’ is poorly written. However, the scene where the latter’s plan is busted at an audition salvages the situation.

The show gains steam in the final episode with the right balance between humour and tension. Given this is a first-of-its-kind attempt in the Telugu digital space, the team deserves considerable praise to have made an earnest attempt in understanding the compulsions of the genre amidst limitations.

Gautham Raj’s controlled portrayal works in parts though his dialogue delivery and body language could’ve been more expressive. Hanu Reddy fits the part of Chip to the T and he reflects the character’s innocence and goofiness with a lively performance. Sameer Malla does his best to bring his underwhelming geeky role alive but the result is not all that fulfilling.

Despite the under-developed roles, Mohana Sree and Rishitha Koruturu register a strong impact in a handful of situations. Keshav Deepak’s experience shows in his measured yet assured approach towards comedy. Saikiran Yedida, as the cool ‘babai’, makes his presence felt and Neela Priya (Abhi’s mother) is impressive in spite of the limited screen time.

Rahul Sharma’s story and screenplay are near-perfect for a sitcom, though there’s huge room for improvement with the dialogues. The director Venugopall Kurapati, who’s asked to deal with an uncharted territory with new faces, faces a few issues in harnessing the full potential of a scene. He displays good consistency with the tone and the treatment across ten episodes. The title track (during the opening credits) is catchy and well-shot and Sameer Malla’s rap segment comes as a pleasant surprise. Ajith Reddy Vaka’s cinematography is effective.

Verdict:

Righto Lefto is a passable attempt at a sitcom and it takes a couple of episodes to get used to its flavour and the brand of humour. The show could’ve benefited more from arresting performances. Hanu Reddy, Mohana Sree, Rishitha Koruturu and Keshav Deepak are the pick of the lot. Take your time to view the episodes at different intervals than watching them at a stretch and there are chances that you may be impressed.

(The web series is now streaming on ETV Win )