Star Cast: Gajraj Rao, Sparsh Shrivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Bhuvan Arora, Renuka Shahane
Director: Sonam Nair
Synopsis: DUPAHIYA is the story of a village, a motorcycle and a marriage. Banwari Jha (Gajraj Rao) resides in Bihar’s Dhadakpur, which is India's only crime-free village since 24 years. His daughter, Roshni's (Shivani Raghuvanshi) marriage is fixed with Durlabh Tripathi (Godaan Kumar). Durlabh, his father Keshav Prasad (Aaloak Prasad) and younger brother Kuber (Avinash Dwivedi) visit Banwari's residence. Kuber happens to mention that he works in the Income Tax department and is settled in Mumbai. Roshni has always dreamt of leaving the village life and hence, she expresses her desire to marry Kuber instead of Durlabh! As luck would have it, the boy's side agrees but on one condition - they'll want a motorcycle for dowry worth Rs. 3 lakhs along with fuel worth Rs. 2 lakhs. Banwari somehow manages to collect the amount and buys a swanky motorcycle. To keep away the prying eyes of the villagers, he locks the vehicle in the school, where he's the principal. Banwari's son Bhugol (Sparsh Shrivastava) is a 'Reeler', that is, he loves to make Reels. He didn't get a chance to make a video of him on the bike when he was getting it from the showroom. Hence, he sneaks out of the house at night with his friend Teepu (Samarth Mahor) and goes to the farm. While shooting the video, a thief lands all of a sudden and takes away the motorcycle. The next day, Banwari Jha is devastated. He wants to find out who robbed his prized possession but is apprehensive about going to the police station as it'll break Dhadakpur's record of being crime-free. The village chief, Pushpalata (Renuka Shahane), wants the bike to be recovered as soon as possible as Dhadakpur's crime-free status can help her be the next Sarpanch. But the police officer, Mithilesh Kushwaha (Yashpal Sharma), who dislikes the residents of Dhadakpur, is determined to file a complaint in this matter. There's also Amavas (Bhuvan Arora), Roshni's ex-boyfriend who gets sucked into this madness. He's a kleptomaniac and the Banwari fears that he might have robbed the bike to stop Roshni's wedding. What happens next forms the rest of the series.
Dupahiya Story Review: Chirag Garg and Avinash Dwivedi's story has a lot of potential. Chirag Garg and Avinash Dwivedi's screenplay does full justice and they add ample conflicts and funny situations to keep the interest going. Chirag Garg and Avinash Dwivedi's dialogues are the true winners of the show. The humourous moments become laugh riots thanks to the one-liners.
Sonam Nair's direction is splendid. The setting might remind one of PANCHAYAT but it goes ahead with its slapstick humour and one-liners. DUPAHIYA, in short, is PANCHAYAT meets Priyadarshan brand of cinema. A few scenes are absolutely absurd and one doesn’t mind as it raises laughs. For instance, the show begins on an insane note when the girl chooses to marry the brother instead of the prospective groom and even his family agrees. In another scene, a character rings up the electricity board to complain why the electricity hasn’t been cut off! The electricity board staff ‘assures’ the caller that they’ll soon do the needful! The show is full of such crazy scenes and it keeps the interest going. Moreover, the characters have creative names like Durlabh, Amavas, Bhugol, Ghuttan etc and it matches with their personality. The affair between two people named Amavas and Roshni is also an interesting idea. The twist in the tale might be easy to predict but still, it plays out well.
On the flipside, there are too many cinematic liberties and hence, a section of the audience might not completely get involved with the narrative. It’s also bewildering that Banwari didn’t show much urgency after knowing about the bike theft and took his time in taking the next step. The track of Nirmal (Komal Kushwaha) is individually quite interesting but turns out to be the weakest part of the show.
Dupahiya Performances: Gajraj Rao is a pro when it comes to playing such roles and impresses yet again. Sparsh Shrivastava is the surprise of the show and his comic timing is seen to be believed. Here’s an actor who deserves to be seen more, that too in author-backed roles. Shivani Raghuvanshi gets a bit dominated by the rest but maintains her position, nevertheless. Bhuvan Arora is adorable as the die-hard romantic and puts up an impressive act. Renuka Shahane, Yashpal Sharma, Avinash Dwivedi, Mac Lara (Kamlesh; panchayat member and Pushpalata's rival) are very entertaining. Yogendra Tikku (Sarpanch) and Komal Kushwaha lend support. Anjuman Saxena (Malti; Banwari's wife) doesn’t get much scope. Samarth Mahor and Godaan Kumar leave a mark in small roles. Aaloak Prasad, Manoj Singh Tiger (Ghuttan), Smriti Mishra (Amavas's bhabhi), Shriram Jog Dada (Kadak Singh Yadav), Chandan Kumar (Madan Kumar; journalist), Brijendra Kala (Gyanchand), Pranjal Pateriya (Pintu) and Vinod Jewant (Parmaanu Bhai) are decent.
Dupahiya music and other technical aspects: Somesh Saha's title song is catchy. The other two songs that work are 'Saiyaan Ka Chumma' and 'Meri Le Le Photo Va'. Somesh Saha's background score is quirky, just like the show.
Piyush Puty's cinematography is satisfactory. Veera Kapur Ee's costumes and Shraddha V Vasugavade and Prashant Ray's production design are realistic. The action is minimal. Yashashwini Y P's editing is overall fine but the show drags in some scenes and this was avoidable.
Dupahiya Review Conclusion: On the whole, DUPAHIYA is a laugh-a-minute riot and deserves to be watched for its plot, hilarious one-liners, and performances, especially Sparsh Shrivastava of LAAPATAA LADIES fame.
Rating: 4 stars
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