‘Ghar Waapsi’ On Disney+ Hotstar Review: Vishal Vashishtha’s Heart-Warming Tale Of Big City Migrant Workers

Director

Ruchir Arun

Cast

Vishal Vashishtha, Atul Shrivastava, Vibha Chibber, Anushka Kaushik, Akanksha Thakur, Saad Bilgrami, Ajitesh Gupta

What’s The Story

'Ghar Wapsi' revolves around Shekhar (Vishal Vashishtha), who returns to his hometown of Indore after he is fired from his high-paying job in Bengaluru. However, he decides to keep it a secret from his family. His life changes forever as he finds a road to self-discovery. But, will he be able to hide his joblessness in front of his family? Or will he get caught and create chaos in the entire familiar setting? Will this move to his hometown lead to some interesting self-discovery?

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What’s Good

Relatable Characters And Great Writing

Bharat Misra and Tatsat Pandey’s writing is the highlight of the show. They have managed to bring forth the pain, the struggle, the frustration, the joys and the longings of every migrant worker in the big city. They’ve brilliantly shown the plight of young adults who have spent 17-18 years in a small town, but after college end up getting a high-paying job in a big city and slowly start resenting going back to the small towns. The writers have tried to keep a mirror in front of the viewers, showing them what the incessant rat race in their professional space is doing to their personal lives. Also, it manages to remind the viewers of the simple joys of small-town living.

Ruchir Arun’s direction adds the necessary punches to the already-heart-warming story. He has managed to bring out the typical small-town Indian middle-class emotions in a story that’s well set in today’s time and yet makes you feel nostalgic. It’s the small instances of a small town living that Arun has managed to showcase in his direction that makes ‘Ghar Waapsi’ such a treat to watch. Whether it’s the younger sister trying to be a matchmaker for her eldest brother, or the father lighting up a cigarette for his son and without saying a word expressing a lot – Arun has given the story a very relatable presentation.

Vishal Vashishta comes up with a performance of a lifetime. He has made the character so relatable that you’re bound to like it. He isn’t trying to showcase a well-sculpted six-pack physique to make the character look young and sexy, but on the contrary, he makes the character very human. He looks like any other 28-30-year-old IT professional would look after 4-5 years of a desk job. Vashishtha has managed to bring out the frustration of every migrant worker in the big city superbly on screen, and that’s what gives the character its depth.

Another standout performance comes from the best friend, played by Ajitesh Gupta. The character would look very simple from the outside but the little nuances that Gupta has managed to bring are terrific. Whether it’s the heartbreak of his best friend not telling him that he’s back in town or it’s the sudden change in emotions trying not to showcase his best friend as a bad person in front of his parents, Gupta has managed to pull through a much-layered performance, which is sure to win your hearts.

What’s Bad

Timeline Is Flawed

Vishal Vashishtha reaches his small town of Indore after 2 years and feels that everything has changed. Reality check: In small towns, things don’t change that much in that short span of time. The sort of familial issues the show deals with crop up when someone isn’t back to his home in the small town for 7-8 years. That would have made more sense, and given the viewer a better understanding of the narrative.

And what’s with the weather in Indore? Vishal Vashishtha’s character reaches Indore after losing his job in Bangalore. When he reaches there it seems like it is winter as everyone is wearing jackets and sweaters throughout. He stays there for 3-4 months and even till his last day everyone is seen wearing warm clothes. After he leaves for Bangalore, is back to his job and is living there for 2-3 months, the family members in Indore are still seen wearing sweaters. Reality check: Indore doesn’t have that many months of winter. It’s not situated in the foothills of the Himalayas so it will be chilly throughout the year. Possibly the makers shot the entire Indore schedule during the winters and didn’t bother too much to change the costumes as per the timelines.

Another flaw with the narrative comes in the way the character of Mathur uncle has been projected. Played by SK Batra, the character is very concerned and helpful towards the sons and daughter of his business partner, Ratanlal Dwivedi, played by Atul Srivastava – the father of the family. However, what’s concerning is that Mathur uncle never discusses about any interactions with his son or daughter. Even when the entire company is celebrating the completion of 30 years, the Dwivedi family is concerned with video calling their son, who’s working in Bangalore, but Mathur uncle isn’t shown as wanting to call his son or daughter. That’s slightly strange!

Among the actors, Akanksha Thakur has a really minimal screen time. Considering how popular she is in the web series space, her character could have had a lot more meat in it. Leaving aside a scene in the climax, she barely had big scenes throughout the show.

Verdict

The emotional connection that ‘Ghar Waapsi’ manages to bring forth is fantastic. It’s this relatability in every young adult's life that audiences would be able to relate to. Leaving aside the technical glitches in the timelines, this Vishal Vashishtha show is definitely a Breezy Weekend Watch. I am going with 3.5 stars.