Beyhadh Review: A Unique, Interesting Plot Coupled With A Good Cast Makes The Show Appealing
Show Title: Beyhadh
Channel: Sony TV
Timings: Monday to Friday 9 pm
Why can’t Sony adapt finite series concept when most of its shows shut down after a few weeks run? If they intentionally start telecasting shows with limited episodes and a fixed ending, viewers might actually feel interested to tune into the channel.
Anyway, Sony TV’s latest show Beyhadh is a much-awaited romantic thriller involving three central characters. The show brings you a fresh new pair of two popular telly actors Kushal Tandon and Jennifer Winget. Beyhadh is replacing Bade Bhaiyya Ki Dulhania. What I understood from the show’s trailer is that Jennifer’s character is slightly obsessive with grey shades to her while Kushal seems like a happy-go-lucky chap who is totally smitten by her. Let’s see what the first episode had to offer and how much it lived up to the hype.
Beyhadh (2016)
Episode 1
The show starts with a grand entry and a 5-minute dance performance to Agneepath’s Shree Ganesha Deva by Arjun (Kushal Tandon) at a Ganesh pandal (a temporary structure built to house a holy deity). As Arjun is dancing his best friend Saanjh (Aneri Vajani) waves out to him from the crowd to grab his attention. He notices her and joins her. He calls her dusky and teases her for being late. She corrects him saying that her name is Saanjh not dusky. He tries to make him leave with her but instead takes her to dance with him. As they are dancing we see a lady arrive in a car with bodyguards escorting her to the pandal. Arjun and Saanjh finish their dance and stand in front of Lord Ganesha offering prayers when Maya’s (Jennifer Winget) bodyguards jostle Saanjh and she drops her puja ki thali (offering to God) at Lord Ganesh’s feet. She trips and Arjun holds her while looking up at the person who pushed Saanjh. We see that Saanjh was standing on a cake of coloured powder and as she stumbles Maya fills in the footprints left behind by Saanjh. (I suppose the director wants to imply that Maya will be replacing Saanjh in Arjun’s life.) Arjun is infuriated but Saanjh stops him from reacting. Maya walks closer to the idol and kneels down offering prayers. Arjun tells Saanjh that people who come here feel that they can get rid of their problems by just folding their hands before God but they do not realise that they have to ‘move’ their hands to actually get things done. Arjun looks at Maya and says that this woman is lucky as all she does in life is spend her father’s money. Just then Saanjh sees a tear trickle down Maya’s cheek. She tells Arjun about it and he says that here you will find two types of people visit the Lord one who is in trouble and the other who has put someone else in trouble and is here to cry fake tears. Saanjh then tells him to leave aside this stuff and see that the reason behind their visit to the pandal is complete as the Prasad they had brought to offer has been automatically offered at Bappa’s (Lord Ganesh) feet. Arjun asks if she is happy and she gives an affirmative reply and looks like he is happy to see her happy. As Arjun bows before Bappa Saanjh is busy robbing secret glances at him. (She very evidently is in love with him and he predictably is unaware of her feelings.)
Saanjh and Arjun are walking down a street when Arjun asks her what she prayed for at the pandal. She tells him that she promised Bappa that if Arjun secures a job and sticks to it for at least six months then she will walk her way to Siddhivinayak temple. He tells her that for the next six months he will try his best to ensure that she fulfils her promise. Arjun drives Saanjh to an over bridge and all through the way she is constantly looking longingly at him. (Yaa yaa, we get it she adores him.)
On the bridge, Arjun and Saanjh discuss their dreams and ambition in life over a cup of tea. Saanjh tells him that she dreams of leading a simple life with her family while Arjun wishes to have all the good things in life and lead an extravagant lifestyle. He points out to a window of a skyscraper and tells her that one day he will own that very house. From the bridge, Saanjh notices a woman standing on a balcony looking down and pointing out to her she tells Arjun that there are some people who dream of things that make them lose sleep. (How could she know, from such distance, that the woman at the balcony is disturbed? Yeh to kuch bhi tha!) Arjun clicks the woman’s photo (huh?) with his phone and tells her that dreams that do not keep you awake at night are just not worth it. We then see that the woman standing at the balcony is Maya who is crying silently lost in some thoughts. As Maya wipes the tears off her face her dupatta goes flying off the balcony and lands on Arjun’s face who is now driving his jeep. (huh? Maya is wearing a netted blouse and pants then why was she holding the dupatta? Not that it was kept for drying or anything. Yeh toh sach mein kuch bhi tha!) The dupatta blocks his view and he is unable to drive properly losing control of his car. Saanjh pulls the dupatta off his face on time and they are saved from an accident. Saanjh is about to throw the dupatta when he holds her hand and keeps the dupatta telling her that it could be used to clean his jeep.
At Maya’s home, Maya hears her mother call out to her and she rushes to her room. She opens the door to see her mother gulp down some alcohol. Her mother asks her opinion over her earrings and tells her that it is for Maya’s father’s and her silver jubilee wedding anniversary. She looks at Maya and asks her if her father will come this time. Maya does not reply and we know that her father won’t be coming to see her and her mother. But Maya’s mother still seems hopeful that this time around her husband will surely visit them.
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At Saanjh’s house, she quietly tries to sneak in when her parents catch her. Her mother scolds her for coming home late at night but Saanjh has her father on her side and she jumps straight on the bed trying to sleep. Her mother pulls her leg by teasing her with Arjun calling him her boyfriend. She says that Arjun and Saanjh have been friends since childhood and that she can talk to Arjun’s mom about their marriage. Saanjh ignores their jokes and pretends to fall asleep.
At Arjun’s house, his stepmother is shown waiting for him. She pointedly asks him the time and he replies that it is 3 am. She tells him that she was waiting for him to which he replies that he has the house keys and that there is no need for her to wait for him. She informs him that his younger brother Aayan has his exams and he will be waking up early to study. Arjun tells her that she need not worry about him and that he will sleep on the couch to avoid disturbing his brother.
As Arjun sleeps on the couch his phone starts buzzing. His brother Aayan is on the call and requests him to open the door. Arjun is surprised that Aayan is out and not in his room studying. He opens the door and asks Aayan where he was. Aayan tells him that he was at a party at which Arjun whacks him on the head saying that he got scolded by Aayan’s mother because of him. Aayan corrects him that she isn’t just ‘his’ mother but ‘their’ mother. Aayan walks into his room and invites Arjun too inside (Now this is funny! Aayan’s room was open all this while and his nobody noticed that he is not in his room. Yeh toh hadh hogai!)
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Next morning, Saanjh is under Arjun’s building honking from her scooty as a signal to call him down. Sleepy Aayan gets disturbed by the honking and tells Arjun to go meet his ‘heroine’ (slang word for girlfriend). Arjun groggily corrects him that she isn’t his heroine and that they are just good friends. Frustrated, Saanjh buzzes Arjun and shouts at him over the phone for being late for his job interview. Arjun is now wide-awake and rushes to the interview.
At the office parking lot, a guard asks Arjun (who is wearing a casual shirt with its top two buttons unbuttoned for an interview. Bhai yeh toh kuch zyada hi ho gaya!) to move his car as the parking spot belongs to someone else. Arjun bribes him and asks him to park his car for him as he is running late for some work. He throws his car keys at the guard but it is caught by another person. We see that the car keys is caught by Maya. Maya walks up to Arjun and tries to tell him that the parking spot is hers when he cuts her off mid-sentence and tells her to bribe the guard who will help her find a spot to park her car. Arjun tells her that he would’ve helped but he has someone waiting for him and cannot waste any more time and starts walking away when he hears his jeep’s engine blare. He turns to see Maya driving his jeep. She parks his jeep at another spot. She then walks up to him and hands him his jeep’s keys and the Rs 100 note that he had given the guard and tells him that she saved his money and advises him to put his money to better use next time. Arjun looks surprised and impressed at Maya who then strides off with her driver.
First Episode First Impression
I personally enjoyed the introduction scene of the three leads. It isn’t a new idea to start a show with a song and dance but somehow I liked that the way the entire sequence was handled. Kushal and Aneri look good together. And it wasn’t very hard to believe that Aneri’s character is in one-sided love with Kushal’s character. Jennifer Winget is one of the most prettiest faces on television and it is always a delight to watch her. After seeing the trailers I am guessing that she may not disappoint her fans and will do a good job at playing a sociopath.
What looked nice?
I liked the performances of the three central characters. Kushal has amazing screen presence and a bright wide smile that can light up your screen. Jennifer’s stoic performance was spot on! Especially the way she looks at her mother. That look on her face conveyed so many things at once. She looks extremely beautiful and her pairing with Kushal is something to look forward to on the show. Aneri suits the role of a sweet young girl madly in love with her best friend. Her frequent gazes at Arjun make her look too adorable.
What did not look nice?
The show looks nice but there were too many mistakes in the first episode itself. The director has overlooked several minor details that viewers often spot or notice easily. From the first episode, it seems very likely that moving forward viewers might witness scenes that are too hard to digest. (Like the scene where Arjun clicks a picture of a random woman standing on her balcony. I am sure it has some significance in the story but still, it makes no sense whatsoever. Who does that in reality?) However, the director must not take audiences for granted and should not try to feed implausible stuff as it will only hamper the show no one else.
Though the first episode had a few loopholes (directionwise) I still think, for now, viewers can ignore that and focus on the larger picture. All three main actors on the show act well and look good together which is what can take the show forward along with its interesting storyline.
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