PremiumYeh Meri Family Season 3 review - Juhi Parmar-Rajesh Kumar's 90s drama takes an overextended trip to the past
Yeh Meri Family transitioned from a state of nostalgic bliss to predictable strife, marking a notable decline in the series' appeal.
Last Updated: 01.12 PM, Apr 05, 2024
In the spring of 1995, the Awasthi family experiences ups and downs as Rishi (Anngad Raaj) matures and Ritika (Hetal Gada) faces academic challenges. Neerja (Juhi Parmar) and Sanjay (Rajesh Kumar) are attempting to determine how to do better parenting.
I enjoyed watching Yeh Meri Family Season 1 twice, as it transported me back to the beginning of everything. But the second season of the TVF series also did the same, only it wasn't a treat anymore, which continues with the recently released latest season. Yeh Meri Family Season 3 on Amazon miniTV is set in the year 1995, but it seems like after 1998 with the trends they have taken up to show the era. The Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 'Anjali' haircut and dungarees worn by the character Shubhi were the biggest giveaways.
But the five episodes seemed so long that it felt like, in an attempt to show the non-existing spring time or the weeks around Holi, they showed a whole year altogether. Although they didn't, the sense of everything unfolding at a leisurely pace suggested a deliberate attempt to depict the gradual passage of time. Well, it didn't, to be honest, but I do feel that I have spent more than five hours to complete this series.
This time, the discussion delved deeper into parents' anger, concluding that children's expression of desires and rebellious behaviour are legitimate for obvious reasons. However, before that, how many slaps are too many slaps? Rishi receives slaps from his mother, Neerja, in almost every episode, until Sanjay finally slaps him across the face. It felt like he was some sort of survivor the whole season with these harmful acts by his parents as well as facing bullying by the senior students from his school.
In the first season, I vividly recall Akarsh Khurana slapping his youngest daughter, Ruhi Khan, with such unexpected shock value. But here, Rishi's smack felt like a normal and daily routine, despite being among the smartest seventh graders.
It's also been a low point for the otherwise blah season. Every episode, which focuses on each of the main five characters, seemed to delve so deeply into their arcs that it blindsided everyone else. There are other things also happening with the family members, even though one is the topic of discussion, but that doesn't matter at all. I had hoped to see some fillers, but the efforts put into creating them were redundant. Well, there were no attempts even made to give better titles to Jurassic Park (which was Hurassic Park) and Hum Aapke Hai Koun...! as Hum Aapas Mein Hai Kaun? What is this even?!
Even the songs that felt like a rip-off of the 90s classics, such as the Ghulam song Jadoo Hai Tera Hi Jadoo and others, took away my attention from what's actually happening in the sequences. The series begins with the flavour of the second season, only to give major feels of Taare Zameen Par immediately turning into Baghban. Well, what was the need for this unnecessary addition to the series, which already turned mediocre with the previous season?
Rahib Siddiqui, the director of this season, presented a comprehensive collection of 101 parenting tips. Well, no one is going to learn one or two, and also showing VCR or foreseeing cellphones as a comfort form of communication, well, they were in the late 90s when the technology was already changing in the country.
In terms of performances, Anngad definitely leaves an impressive mark as he shoulders the series entirely, whereas it felt like Hetal took a backseat this time only to lend support to her onscreen younger brother. When talking about Juhi and Rajesh, the former's strictness became so predictable that I even guessed a slap or intense eyes would come every time she entered the frame. On the other hand, Rajesh tries being all cutesy, and it becomes borderline annoying—not the actor but his character.
Well, the nostalgia trip does feel like it predicted the future, and did I just hear something similar to Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Gangs of Wasseypur dialogue on "badla"?
As it tries to capture the spirit of the 90s, Yeh Meri Family Season 3 falls prey to anachronisms and overdone melodrama in its expansive nostalgia. Despite its best efforts, the show frequently strays into predictable plot points and preachy parental lectures, undercutting its intended emotional depiction of family relationships and growing pains.