BOTTOM LINE
Typically TVF, Easy-Breezy
PLATFORM
Amazon MX Player
RUNTIME
2 Hrs.
What Is the Film About?
Dr Vidushi Kothari fights tooth and nail to save her clinic, Choice & Care. Determined to build her dream independently, she hastily repays her father’s loan, triggering a massive financial crisis. From missing patients and Nurse Violet’s resignation to a disastrous partnership with a healthcare chain, Vidushi is hit from all sides. Even as she does whatever it takes to survive, reality blues bite back hard.
Performances
Saba Azad carries the show forward with her agile presence that still doesn’t dilute the character’s ambitions and concerns. In her portrayal of Vidushi, you see every ordinary young woman looking to break the glass ceiling with much confidence. Vibha Chhibber, as Nurse Violet, is solid as ever, bringing the necessary groundedness to the proceedings as the senior, stable figure in Vidushi’s life.
Karishma Singh, despite a brief role, mirrors the struggles of a new mother with parenthood and effectively depicts how rough that phase can be. In the case of the men, Kunal Thakur and Aaron Arjun Koul, though there’s little to fault them with their performance, you just wish their characters were etched with more complexity. Shruti Seth, in a blink-and-a-miss cameo, is alright.
Analysis
Who’s Your Gynac gives you the satisfaction of watching a universal story of a woman carving her identity in the big-bad world on her terms. What makes it extremely watchable is its warm, slice-of-life treatment. While a gynaecologist’s world nearly falls apart, there’s a quiet grace with which she marches on. Racking her brain over rising bills and rent, she still trusts her instincts over safer alternatives.
The second season takes off with the protagonist Dr Vidushi steadying her relationship with a paediatrician, Arth. On the professional front, though, she is feeling the pinch as her financial resources dry up. Rent mounts, the patient count hits a new low, and her much-loyal nurse submits her resignation to seek a better-paying job. Though her friend Mehr is as cheery as ever, Swara battles postpartum blues.
The show clearly deals with issues that feel today and relevant in city dwellers’ lives. The cushion of a life with parents is no longer around, and an element of hesitation creeps in when it comes to seeking their help. Instead, friends become the family you rely on during your ebbs and flows. All of this is harder for someone who is their own boss. They’re just as responsible for others as they’re for themselves.
Director Himali Shah approaches all of this with a sense of lightness, like an invisible pal comforting Vidushi now and then, ‘It’s not the end of the world, it’s going to be okay.’ Swara’s role is as significant to the story because it tells you the not-so-rosy part about motherhood. That you needn’t be burdened with guilt about postpartum and choosing work over the baby for an occasional weekend.
Mehr, while landing a job under Swara, falls in love with a colleague, but things don’t go as well as planned. He is one of the arcs that remain under-explored, perhaps for the filmmaker’s need to sustain the show’s breezy vibe. With Vidushi’s partner, Arth, it goes too far to portray him as a supportive boyfriend. He’s excessively sweet, always the green-flag guy who’s sensitive to her needs and concerns.
The lifeline of the show is still how Vidushi handles her day-to-day professional issues, clinic routines and keeps falling in love with work again. A patient returns to her for a second pregnancy, very aware of the ease with which she carried out the first delivery. A woman is worried about getting cosy with a partner during her period. Another patient hesitates to talk to her boyfriend about her apprehensions with sex.
Like a CSR routine for a company, Vidushi even takes care of a domestic help’s bleeding issues. The little things – with how she didn’t like to be introduced as Arth’s girlfriend (instead of her profession) in the presence of a senior medico – give you enough hint of Vidushi’s self-respect. The tie-up with a corporate healthcare chain, although catastrophic, brings an added authenticity to the proceedings.
Similar to most TVF shows, the five-episode series views life with a rose-tinted lens and may not boast heightened drama or major conflicts. But it pays heed to the little joys, anxieties you’d tackle to keep your dream alive and also the support system so necessary to stay afloat. The story is simple, safe and relatable, the mood is light, and the performances are grounded.
Who’s Your Gynac Season 2 is a reasonable return to form for TVF after a dull patch, bringing back the sanitised, slice-of-life humour while addressing contemporary, relevant issues of a young, liberated audience.
Music and Other Departments?
Arpit Mehta’s soundscape rarely invades the narrative. Even if not novel or original with its choices, it pushes the story forward smoothly. Aniruddha Patankar’s vivid, bright visuals are quite a sight for sore eyes, especially when storytellers have become too gimmicky and even boring with their technical preferences. Within a 2-hour narrative too, the episodes pack in a lot of aspects and weave them into the episodes organically. The 20-25 minute episodes are easy to digest.
Highlights?
Simple, slice-of-life treatment
Universal, relatable themes
Neither too technical nor generic
Drawbacks?
Characters may have benefited from more complexity
A few convenient closures, safe treatment
Goes overboard to avoid conflicts or ugly tiffs
Did I Enjoy It?
Generally, yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, it’s light-hearted, fun and sensible, though slightly sugar-coated at times
Who’s Your Gynac Season 2 Webseries Reviewed by M9 News
