Web Series 'Oops Ab Kya?' Review – A Confusing Old-fashioned Approach

By Shantiswarup Tripathi

• Rating: 2 Stars
• Producers:  Dice Media
• Directors: Prem Mistry and Debatma Mandal
• Cast:  Shweta Basu Prasad, Aashim Gulati, Abhay Mahajan, Sonali Kulkarni, Apara Mehta, Jaaved Jaaferi, and others
• Duration: 40 to 44 minutes per episode, 8 episodes, approximately 6 hours
• OTT: Streaming on JioStar from February 20

Starting from today, February 20th, the web series  ‘Oops Ab Kya? with a total duration of about six and a half hours, is streaming on the OTT platform Jio Star. However, this is not an original series. It is the Hindi remake of the American series "Jane the Virgin," which itself is based on the Venezuelan telenovela. Both the original Venezuelan show and its American remake dealt with cultures where issues of abortion and contraception were controversial. However, when Prem Mistry and Debatma Mandal brought this remake to India, the cultural context of India was quite different, and the series fails to address these realities. Moreover, by adding multiple unrelated themes like romance, drug rackets, and plastic surgery, the series becomes chaotic. It lacks both comedy and the thrill of suspense, making it fall short in providing an engaging experience.

Story

The story begins when Ruhi is 27 years old. But the story repeatedly goes to 2008 and 2011. Sutradhar's services have been used to narrate the story. Ruhi's mother Pakhi (Sonali Kulkarni) was not married to Ruhi's biological father and rejected her lover's obvious solution of abortion. Pakhi gave birth to Ruhi and lived with her mother Subhadra (Apara Mehta) and raised Ruhi facing all kinds of difficulties. Now Ruhi is the duty manager in a five star hotel. At the same time, she has been in a love relationship with Omkar Jadhav (Abhay Mahajan), an intelligence officer of the police department, for the last three years, but following the teachings of her grandmother Subhadra, Ruhi has turned Omkar Jadhav into a model of restraint. In 2008, when Ruhi was a child, her maternal grandmother Subhadra (Apara Mehta) explained to her, citing the example of a broken clay piggy bank, that the dignity of a girl and a woman lies in preserving her virginity. This means that Subhadra has advised Ruhi to choose dignity over sex life. Now Ruhi is 27 years old, but she still sleeps in the same bed with Pakhi. She has not had sex with her boyfriend. But Ruhi, who has never had sex, becomes pregnant due to the mistake of Dr. Roshni. Dr. Roshni mistakenly injects the sperm of her stepbrother and Ruhi's boss hotel owner Samar (Aashim Gulati) into Ruhi's womb. Samar Pratap is also her seven-year-old former crush. Ruhi (Shweta Basu Prasad) then deals with forced motherhood as well as the reactions of her family, boyfriend and the couple she was not meant to marry.

Running parallel to Ruhi's story is that of hotelier Samar (Aashim Gulati) and his money-hungry wife Alisha (Amy Ella), who had hoped to start a family but are having trouble living together. Omkar, while not caring or arguing with Ruhi, is chasing a mysterious drug smuggler. Ruhi is also finding it difficult to resist the rich and dishonest Samar.

The story moves forward with the arrival of television star Vanraj (Jaaved Jaaferi) to play an important role in Ruhi's family. Vanraj's real name is something else and he is Ruhi's biological father. The story then goes through many twists and turns.

Review

The web series has significant issues with its story and screenplay. Directors Prem Mistry and Debatma Mandal have used a narrator to mask their weaknesses and force humor into the plot, which disrupts the entertainment value. The entire story is unnecessarily stretched out over eight long episodes. Yes, even though each episode is 40 minutes long, many scenes lack any purpose or relevance. At times, even attempts at humorous dialogues fall flat. The pace is extremely slow, which only elongates the already thin plot. The writers and directors stretched the narrative without knowing how to wrap it up, ultimately haphazardly concluding it in the eighth episode. The climax is very poorly executed. In the sixth episode, some scenes are borrowed from Ekta Kapoor’s popular serial  “ Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”  which aired over 15 years ago. However, the directors do successfully hint at the unpredictable twists life and family can bring. The series touches on uncomfortable societal truths and the exploration of patriarchy. Moments like Ruhi accepting her feelings for Samer despite being with Omkar, Pakhi being pregnant without marriage, conception, and emotional dilemmas are portrayed without moralizing.

Acting

Shweta Basu's portrayal of the confused and complex character of Ruhi, navigating her life, is outstanding. Apara Mehta, as grandmother Subhadra, doesn’t add much to the role. Sonali Kulkarni, as Pakhi, leaves a lasting impact. Her love story and chemistry with Jaaved Jaaferi are very endearing.  Jaaved Jaaferi’ s talent, however, is underutilized in his role as TV star Vanraj Bhatia. Abhay Mahajan shows potential as Omkar, while  Aashim Gulati’s portrayal of Samer is adequate. Amy Ella brings depth to the character of Alisha.