BOTTOM LINE
Inter Trauma Tale Only Works in Parts
PLATFORM
ETV Win
RUNTIME
4 hours (7 episodes)
What Is the Show About?
Arjun’s a carefree lad who wants to join the same college as his crush, Jayashree. Tired of his irresponsible ways, his father, Raju, sends him to a hostel. Meanwhile, Imran, the village’s top student, sees his father take out a loan to admit him to a reputable college. From grim food to homesickness and relentless timetables, the trio’s intermediate years get off to a far-from-ideal start. Yet, a strong friendship helps them muddle through the stress.
Performances
The three young blokes, Harsh Roshan, Bhanu Prakash, and Jayatheertha (playing Arjun, Raju, and Imran), deliver confident, refreshing performances that help us look beyond the show’s issues. Besides their impressive screen presence, they embody all the naïveté, playfulness, and early adult-ish arrogance you tend to witness in an average 16-year-old.
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Analysis
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Campus tales enjoy an everlasting appeal. While they generally try to tick the same old boxes – the highs and lows of studenthood, academic pressures, a brush with first love, a dose of bromance, and coming-of-age motifs – newer backdrops and different timelines infuse new life into the template. ETV Win’s AIR (All India Rankers) packages that bittersweet nostalgia with humour aplenty.
As a concept, AIR feels like a comical reimagining of Kota Factory; it appears to take itself less seriously, but the sentimentality in the storytelling grows with time. In the process, however, it commits a similar folly to the former, almost romanticising the soul-crushing routine of intermediate years through the protagonists’ friendship, nearly implying it’s necessary to achieve higher goals in life.
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The supposed lighter moments in the show stem from the students’ inability to endure the academic stress. They’re made to study for over 12 hours a day. Set in the early 2010s, mobile access is a luxury. The food in the hostel is as dreadful as it gets. The students form groups based on their caste. The boys, however, are united in watching adult videos through the night.
A peon leaks question papers; a supervisor has a crush on the receptionist (and even enjoys an adult video from a student’s phone), while authorities randomly try to keep the boys’ rooms in hostels in check. As the three pivotal characters – Arjun, Imran, and Raju – try to make excuses to leave the campus, you nearly sympathise with them, until a fiasco puts them back in their place.
Like you’d expect, an inspiring teacher sets the record straight, finding innovative ways to motivate the students and push them towards their near-impossible goals. The show also finds a way to comment on the use of corporal punishment, the commodification of education, and teachers sandwiched between the superiors and ambitious parents, expected to be rank-generating machines.
AIR, on most occasions, feels like a smartly assembled product rather than a show that genuinely cares for the plight of the students. While it’s fine to draw influences from pop culture and much-celebrated films/shows for inspiration, it’s disappointing when a story has no new perspective to share. It wants to be funny initially, alters its tone later, and manufactures a forced, feel-good vibe in the end.
All through the episodes, the fingers are constantly pointed towards the boys for committing a grave ‘crime’, as if they don’t deserve a second chance. However, the show could’ve dwelt deeper on the circumstances that force them to cheat and fumble. The backstories of the three protagonists are generic too, as if the writers had to cook something up to bring them together on the same campus.
While trying to discuss serious issues in a light-hearted vein, AIR oversimplifies many problems. It’s equally frustrating that it subscribes to the same male-centric gaze that most campus-centric tales are guilty of. Back home, the men remain the providers and the women, the domestic creatures, are mostly relegated to the kitchen. In the college, too, the girls are nothing more than romantic interests.
AIR is a partly relatable, mostly superficial take on intermediate trauma. It is neither funny nor thought-provoking, but salvaged by good performances.
Performances by Others Actors
Chaitanya Rao is aptly cast as the transformative teacher who helps the students view their subjects from a new angle, bringing depth and believability to his performance. Sunil’s cameo sets a good tone for the show in the beginning, though Sandeep Raj’s performance is exaggerated beyond necessity. The strong supporting cast, namely Viva Harsha, Sameer, Ramana Bhargav, Jeevan, and Bindu Chandramouli, do justice to their appearances.
Music and Other Departments?
Though breezy and blending seamlessly into the narrative, Anivee’s songs lack broader musical appeal; the singing and lyrics are slightly casual at times. Sinjith Yerramilli’s background score fares better in comparison. SS Manoj’s flashy, colourful palette keeps the frames busy and peppy, helped by the authentic production design. The dialogues are decent, though lacking in consistency.
Highlights?
Relatable premise
Raises pertinent points
Good performances, humour
Drawbacks?
Has no novelty
Oversimplifies serious issues for its feel-good vibe
Lacks depth
Did I Enjoy It?
Only in parts
Will You Recommend It?
If you enjoy campus tales, give it a chance, but keep your expectations low
Air ETv Win Telugu Web Series Review by M9
