I wonder how did I miss this lovely web series from TVF? Never saw any ad of it – ‘not promoted well’ might be one of the reasons most of us are unaware of this masterpiece. After I watched Samantar on MX Player, Cheesecake’s trailer flashed on my YouTube. At that very moment, I decided to watch this series. I am glad that I did.
Firstly, I do not have high expectations from MX Player, so I wasn’t really happy with a TVF series being released on this OTT platform. But I must say, MX Player should really start focusing on content like Cheesecake to raise its standard.
Let’s talk about Cheesecake now. If you are a dog lover, you simply can’t miss this series. Even if you are not, it’s not a valid reason to miss it. Cheesecake is a feel-good story for audiences of every age. What’s its story? Without any spoilers, I will simply narrate it in brief, to give you a gist of the story.
Cheesecake is a story of a young couple, Samira and Neel, who have not fallen out of love, but are on the verge of it. Neel’s over-commitment to work and absolutely no-attention to personal life is upsetting Samira. All she is looking for is, to spend some quality time with him, to build a worthwhile life with her husband. Being a media person, he is always chasing good contracts for his company which leads to being overworked, overburdened, and exhausted all the time.
Frustrated in personal life and at work, Samira meets her sister to vent her frustration at a club. Drunk, she meets a golden retriever outside the same club. As she bids goodbye to him and heads home, he follows her. Not in her senses at night, she finds him in her apartment in the morning and doesn’t understand how he got there.
Neel and Samira’s life then takes a U-turn. As they try to leave him in a shelter home, the caretaker, Mirza suggests the couple that they put him up for adoption. They do put him up for adoption but till then, they are Cheesecake’s caretaker. It becomes difficult for Neel to let Samira handle the dog and his responsibilities all by herself, as she is also a working woman but decides to take a leave for a few days just to take care of this baby. He hence start actively participating.
As the couple hunt for the right home for Cheesecake, they start spending time together. Most importantly, they start communicating again. In the process, their individual healing begins. Samira’s focus shifts from her husband for a while. With Cheesecake for company, she starts feeling happy on her own once again, not feeling lonely all the time. For Neel, his focus shifts from work to home.
When it comes to healing the situation, Cheesecake works as a catalyst.
What is appreciable about the entire series is the couple’s transition from one phase to another is smooth, flawless and believable. Neither their issues, healing, or their love for Cheesecake is over-dramatized.
Now this is just the gist of the story. The non-dramatized twist in the end, shocks you first and then shatters you a bit.
Warning: If you are a dog lover, it will make you cry (Don’t worry, it’s not a sad ‘Teri Meherbaniya’ kind of story).
Apart from a great story directed well, what made this cheesecake sweeter was Akansha Thakur and her portrayal of Samira. I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. I don’t think anyone else could have played Samira better than her. Her bonding with Cheesecake was praise-worthy. In the entire series, either she is with the dog or not – you feel her love for him, you feel her connection with him. In the beginning, you also understand her frustration and how loneliness is breaking her on the inside. When her relationship with her husband starts improving, she says yes to give away the dog to the family who wants to adopt him. The reason? Their broken relationship is affecting Cheesecake negatively, and giving away Cheesecake is what her husband wants. While doing all of it, you feel her breaking inside a bit, but doing it all with a smile, for her baby and her husband. Portraying your character’s emotions without words is something only the best of actors can do. I hope the girl gets more good work in the future.
Make sure you watch this TVF’s hidden treasure on MX Player this weekend.
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