PART 1
I love web series and short films that revolve around ambitious women and their struggle to make it big. Though the trailer of ‘It’s not that simple’ seemed to be narrating a powerful story, the episodes are neither powerful nor interesting.
The first hint the trailer gives you is of corporate politics, mind games, and revenge.
But the first three episodes, around 40 minutes each, without a break, have failed to deliver anything that keeps me hooked to the main story. Why did I say the ‘ Main Story?’ Because there is a part that I was hooked to, the Purab Kohli’s part. Instead of getting confused about what exactly the web series should focus on – the woman, her struggle, her need for sex and men, her ambitions, her career, lesbians, and what not, the story could have been simple and more effective, if the writer would have focused on a full-fledged father-daughter story.
Why am I not liking this Meera? I have seen another ambitious Meera before this. Remember, Meera Sehgal from The Girl in the City? Her life also revolved around her dreams, ambitions, and goofed up relationships – professional as well as personal. But this female did not allow a man to ask her ‘Kapde Kab Utarogi?’ to achieve her dreams or while she was struggling for a firm footing in the industry. After the #MeToo campaign at least, don’t you think even the film-makers should stop make asking a woman for sexual favours (even if that’s a joke) look cool? Because IT’S NOT!
When a man who is helping you out casually asks when are you wearing that lace wali chaddi so that he can take it off, IT’S NOT A JOKE. And if it is, movements like #MeToo should not exist.
Coming back to the ‘EMOTIONLESS’ DRAMA, maybe because I am not a Swara Bhaskar fan, I did not find her doing justice to any of the roles she is depicting in the series – not of a mother, a career-oriented woman, or a friend. At some places, especially in the scenes with her daughter, it feels like she is simply delivering dialogues, no emotion, whatsoever.
Conclusion: Disappointingly, till now, the series is not half as sensational as the trailer was. But yes, for me, the story is still unfolding. It might just surprise me in the end. Fingers crossed!
Where to Watch? Voot