TVF’s new show, Half CA, though looks custom-made for CA aspirants, it is not. Yes, the show revolves around how difficult it is to get through and become a CA, it has a lot to offer to the youth of the country.
Life is getting difficult day by day. The competition is tough out there. Even kids are under immense pressure to perform due to which we see even school kids commit suicide these days. What’s best about Half CA? They have neither glorified struggle or glamorised giving it up entirely. They have maintained a right balance between the both. When one of the main characters, Vishal understands that CA is not the right career choice for him and he will never be able to clear it, he gracefully quits it and chooses a profession he thinks he will flourish in. This is one of the best ways to tell the kids that just because you failed in a field, you can’t call it failure. You can choose the direction and keep experimenting with things till you find your calling. There is nothing wrong with it.
Half CA teaches you how to deal with pressure and if you don’t like it, without feeling guilty about it, let it go. But if that is what you truly want in life, then chase it – without setting unrealistic deadlines. The show does that subtly without being preachy about it. You have Niraj Goyal, a CA aspirant who is trying his best to clear the exam but fails, repeatedly. He deals with stress, rejection, and humiliation but is still not ready to give up. After he fails once again and as promised, returns to his hometown to look after his father’s shop, we see him break down, not because he failed once again, but because he will not be able to continue chasing his dream of becoming a CA.
This teaches a lot about pressure and dreams. If you are following your dream, then, only then, go after it, like Niraj. If you are simply becoming a part of the trend, then letting failure get to you to an extent where it starts depressing you, be smart and quit. There is a beautiful scene between Archie (Ahsaas) and Vishal (Anmol) where the latter tells his best friend the importance of letting go on time.
The beauty of Half CA is its fully baked story and characters. Though a short web series of 5 episodes, you won’t find any loose ends here. If you have watched previous TVF shows like Kota Factory and Aspirants, you know what template they follow for such shows. Yet each show comes with a unique flavour, an essence of its own. Apart from the story and direction, what makes Half CA an excellent show is its performances. May it be Ahsaas Channa, Anmol Kajani, Gyanendra Tripathi, or Niraj Sood. The first two fall into the category of young actors who we might look at as less experienced ones when compared to Gyanendra Tripathi or Niraj Sood. Still, you cannot say who was better than whom. Having said that, I would really like to mention Gyanendra Tripathi here for an outstanding performance. His subtle expressions were enough to break you down. There is a scene where after coming back home from Mumbai, while in the store, all the stress starts making him feel restless. You could actually feel that stress. You commit yourself that this is something you will never put you through. That’s how realistic and convincing Gyanendra’s Niraj Goyal is.
All in all, Half CA is a great show and every individual who has worked on this show should be applauded for this exceptional web series.