What if Dupahiya on Amazon Prime Video is just another chapter in an anthology of slice-of-life rural comedy-satire dramas stemming from the happenings of everyday lives of the village/small-town simpletons, with Panchayat, Gullak, and Laapataa Ladies being the others? That’s the first question that popped in our minds when we watched the trailer of the series about a month back. Upon watching the first season of Dupahiya, we felt it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is, and that’s a good thing!
Created by Salona Bains Joshi and Shubh Shivdasani, the nine-episode series has been directed by Masaba Masaba fame Sonam Nair. The pilot episode in itself is so interesting and humorous that it will instantly suck you in the world of Dhadakpur – a fictional village in Bihar that hasn’t witnessed any crime or FIR for the past 24 years. The makers do little to invest in the world-building and take us to the setting directly, as by now, most of us are already familiar with this world, courtesy the previous chapters of the earlier-mentioned anthology (read Panchayat, Laapataa Ladies, etc). And honestly, we don’t really mind that Dupahiya doesn’t waste any time in building the world and the characters it’s about. Instead, Dhadakpur’s name-board, that proudly boasts “India’s only crime free village”, and the opening voiceover that says, “Na katta, na goli. Na gaali, na hi dunali” set the premise quite well. The same voiceover probably borrows the differentiation between “Qisse” and “Kahaniyaan” from Sony Liv’s Gullak. However, while Gullak is not about kahaniyaan but qisse, in Dupahiya, we’ll witness a kahaani, we’re told in just under a minute.
It’s often the pilot episode that becomes the deciding factor in whether the viewer/s will stick around and watch the entire series till the end, and Dupahiya‘s pilot episode really hits it out of the park with a simple premise of a prospective matchmaking for a wedding. Roshni (Shivani Raghuvanshi) and her family, that includes her father Banwari Jha (Gajraj Rao), mother Malti (Anjuman Saxena), and brother Bhugol (Sparsh Shrivastava), are meeting a potential groom, Durlabh Tripathi (Godaan Kumar) and his family that includes his younger brother Kuber (Avinash Dwivedi) and their father (Aaloak Kapoor). The unexpected turn of events that take place during this scene culminate with Roshni’s marriage being fixed, but with the younger brother (Kuber) of the originally intended groom (Durlabh). This change of groom is accompanied by a change in the original ask for dowry, which goes from a modest scooter to a high-end motorcycle (referred to as Dupahiya in the series). Why, you ask? Well, for starters, Kuber has got a job in Mumbai, and Roshni, along with Bhugol, see the wedding as their ticket to the city of dreams. The episode instantly takes you on a nostalgia ride, drawing parallels with a lot of the working individuals in big cities, who left the bylanes of their small-town homes to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.
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Even though the motorbike that was demanded was way out of budget, the Jha family somehow pooled in all their savings to buy the most expensive dupahiya for their would-be son-in-law. However, as fate would have it, the bike gets stolen, courtesy Bhugol’s creative, Reel-making ideas. All hell breaks loose when the Jha family gets to know of the theft. They can’t file an FIR in the police as the record of the village will be broken, which is unacceptable for the village chief Pushplata Yadav (Renuka Shahane) who hopes for a trophy and clean borewell water for the village as a prize for remaining crime free for 25 years, and to win the upcoming elections to become the Sarpanch. If the bike isn’t found, Kuber won’t go ahead with the nuptials, leaving Roshni and Bhugol’s dreams shattered. With only eight days remaining for Roshni’s pheras, how will the Jha family manage to arrange for the dowry? That forms the basic crux of the story. There’s also Roshni’s ex-flame Amavas (Bhuvan Arora) who joins the quest to fulfill the groom’s demand, a lazy and vindictive cop (Yashpal Sharma) waiting for the perfect opportunity to avenge his past insult at the hands of Banwari, a prying journalist looking for the perfect scoop, Editor of Khabar Falana (the local newspaper) Gyan Chand (Brijendra Kala) looking for some masala in the news, Pushplata’s daughter Nirmal (Komal Kushwaha) who wants to get skin lightening treatment done in order to not face any more rejections from prospective matches.
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Through the remaining eight episodes, we are taken on an epic (mis)adventure by each of the cast members to find the bike and/or its replacement and the culprit who stole it in the first place, so that Roshni can get married peacefully. The characters find themselves in situations that are outlandish and hilarious. They may not always make you go ROFL, but they will surely tickle your funny bones. Who would have thought that two male characters would end up in a desi drag dance number (referred to as Launda Naach in the series) to celebrate an, wait-for-it, owl’s birthday, in an effort to get the coveted bike for Kuber? The idea itself is bizarre beyond belief! Almost every character in the series is full of quirks and eccentricities that end up bringing a smile to your face in the most unexpected and absurd situations. Whether it is Bhugol’s obsession to go viral, Kuber’s fetish for the bike, both Bhugol and Kuber’s amusing attempts at speaking in English, Amavas’s uncontrollable urge to steal things, or Durlabh’s eagerness and yearning to become the groom – It all adds up in a coherent, well written and executed screenplay. Even the names of ex-lovers Roshni (meaning: light) and Amavas (meaning: new moon) also have a context. With so many things happening at the same time, the writers (Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg) never lose sight of the question that plagues the viewers: Who stole the bike in the first place? They’ve done a commendable job at balancing all these elements along with a subtle commentary on social issues like dowry, colourism, dreams vs reality, women empowerment, etc., in an engaging story and screenplay.
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Dupahiya, however, is not without faults. A couple of plot points appeared too convenient, like a sudden change of heart of a cop, or the climax of Roshni’s wedding, though with a commentary from the groom’s perspective as well, seemed a bit derivative, since we’ve witnessed a similar episode in the series Made In Heaven and the movie Lajja earlier. At some places, the pace begins to slacken and the length of the episodes seems to overstay their welcome. It is during these moments that the entire ensemble cast pulls their weight in the acting department and keeps you invested in the goings on onscreen. While there’s an earnestness and sincerity in Gajraj Rao’s portrayal of Banwari, Renuka Shahane does a brilliant job as Pushplata. Sparsh Shrivastava particularly shines as Bhugol, and Bhuvan Arora is a delight as Amavas. Shivani Raghuvansi as Roshni does complete justice to her part, while Brijendra Kala is a treat to watch in a small and sweet role. Yashpal Sharma too plays his part well. Avinash Dwivedi as Kuber is quite impressive, and Godaan Kumar as Durlabh is so damn entertaining. The casting department has done a fantastic job in bringing these gems together. Each of them seems to have understood the tonality of their character pretty well. Whether it is the rural diction or the idiosyncrasies of their characters, the cast has given it their all. No wonder the series gathered so much love and appreciation and has been renewed for a second season by Prime Video (they announced the same on Friday). This author for one, will be waiting in anticipation for Dupahiya season 2 for sure.
