I will start this review with one of my poems. Here you go…
And then one day
Just like that,
You grow wings
And you leave your nest
For the first few years,
It tastes like freedom
You fly higher and higher
The sky is never the limit
You want to explore
Beyond the horizonsBut then comes a day
When you feel tired,
Exhausted
And you want to rest
Go back home
But your nest isn’t where you left itSomeone tells you
It was there for years
Waiting for you
But you didn’t return
And it couldn’t withstand
The test of timeThen, the unimaginable happens
You keep looking for home
Longing for it
Wanting to go back
To your nest
Tired of the endless sky
You look for walls around you
Till you die
But don’t find your nest
Where you left it
When you learnt to fly
There are only a few lucky ones who find their nests intact when they decide to return home. Ghar Waapsi is the story of that one lucky guy, Shekhar Dwivedi, who when tired of exploring the skies, decides to return to his nest, and fortunately, finds it intact.
If you have ever left your home and moved to another city or country for a job, you might have gone through the trauma that Shekhar Dwivedi goes through in Ghar Waapsi. With layoffs happening every now and then, this story is even more relatable now.
Ghar Waapsi asks you a very important question – Is it all worth it? So, if you are not ready to ask yourself some brutal questions and give yourself some honest answers, then stay away from this show. Because Ghar Waapsi might just act as a wake up call you are not ready for yet.
Firstly, kudos to both the writers of Ghar Waapsi, Bharat Misra and Tatsat Pandey for writing such a wonderful show. To write a show like this when people, somewhere, are purposely forgetting their way back home is truly applause-worthy. Not only because they dared to speak about the underlying issues that are destroying (most of) us emotionally but also because they are making people want to go back home with their simple yet powerful writing.
A few days before watching this show, I had read a post on LinkedIn where a guy who was living his dream life away from home took a transfer back to his hometown. In his post, he had mentioned how loneliness has been depressing. No matter how good life seemed on the outside; inside, he was breaking down. He now believes that no material wealth is worth this mental and emotional trauma. Hence, he packed his bags and returned home.
Whether people say it or not, everyone wants to return home which is why Ghar Waapsi feels like a one-on-one conversation with yourself.
The story, undoubtedly, is the hero here but so is the direction. No over the top drama. A simple story has been told in a simple way. When you watch the show, you feel like characters are living their day to day life and you are simply watching them live their lives. It’s that simple!
The cast makes it a wholesome show. You know how a bowl of khichdi looks – only dal and chawal. But it becomes edible when you add masalas in the right proportion, give it a tadka, and serve it with papad and achar. The cast is that tadka and those masalas that make a simple dish like khichdi taste good. Their performances make it soulful.
Vishal Vashishtha as Shekhar Dwivedi is excellent, especially when he steps into the shoes of a big brother. He has played both the roles perfectly, of the corporate guy and a homebody. I have not seen his previous work so for me, from here on, he is Shekhar from Ghar Waapsi.
Other two performances that I would like to give a special mention to are Ajitesh Gupta, the actor who played Shekhar’s friend, Darshan and Saad Bilgrami, the actor who played Shekhar’s younger brother, Sanju Dwivedi. What subtle yet lovely performances! Saad Bilgrami has performed the character transformation so well. Your heart actually starts breaking for him and you want to keep everyone aside and want to know what’s happening in life. You want to go and talk to his parents about how he is a misunderstood child. You want everyone in the show to give him a chance to prove himself. And all of it has been done with very few dialogues. He wins the game with body language and looks. I will never forget the scene where he simply looks at his elder brother and asks him if he really needs to leave (go back to another city for a new job). Showing all your character’s vulnerabilities in one scene is a tough task. He has managed to do it well.
Coming to Ajitesh Gupta, I have most of the times seen him in supporting roles. I remember seeing him in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana and I think, a few episodes of Crime Patrol. Watching him in Ghar Waapsi as Darshan was like an eye-opener. He tells you why supporting characters are called ‘supporting.’ With his support, the lead was a hero. When he decides to not support, the lead becomes a villain. Jokes apart, his character speaks about the silent supporters in our lives without whom our lives are not complete. His becoming vocal about his importance in Shekhar’s life was done so beautifully that it did not look like arrogance or selfishness. You pity him, and for a long time, hate Shekhar for his ignorance.
So yes, I have picked my favourites. If you haven’t yet, go watch Ghar Waapsi now and let me know who you adored the most.
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Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar
The poem is beautifully woven into the review. Blends well with the story telling.