Youthful yet traditional, a YA drama that is surprisingly well written
Love themed comedy shows for teens are few and far between in India. With their focus on crime and action genres. There’s hardly anything for young adults when it comes to the TV shows made just for them. Filling this gap is Amazon Prime Video’s latest seven-episode series — Dil Dosti Dilemma.
The show tells the story of Asmara, a high school student who is all set for her month-long trip to Canada. Asmara is a part of the Awesome Threesome and friends with Naina and Tania — both girls come from families as loaded as hers. When her mother Arshiya finds out that Asmara had disrespected her mother in front of her friends. She sends Asmira to live with her mom while they go off to Canada.
Now Asmara, who has already told her friends about Canada. Tries to keep up appearances once she moves in with her Naana and Naani (maternal grandparents). Arshiya hopes that Asmara will learn humility while living with grandparents in poverty. While Asmara looks for newer ways to lie to her friends so that they do not know what life she now lives.
Starring Anushka Sen — a name known in child acting circuits but later found fame as a social media celebrity — this also stars names popular in Indian Cinema as well as the Indian television industry. From Tanvi Azmi to Shruti Seth, Shishir Sharma to Mahesh Thakur as well as Suhasini Mulay and Farida Dadi.
Story wise this is surprisingly better written than any other teenager-based show even though its main characters are teenagers itself. The show talks about privilege and how teens feel entitled towards privileges received due to parents’ hardwork. When Asmara moves into a house located within a densely populated slum, she realizes that living in a gated community. Wearing branded clothes and traveling in branded cars is not everything life has to offer.
The show also highlights a generation gap between Asmara and Naani as the two characters get an insight into each other’s lives. While on her part. Naani is right about dressing modestly in a place with prying eyes. But Asmara wants to dress however she likes without worrying about gossipmongers. An interesting out-of-pocket cameo in this one gives hope for one hell of a story that could have been if this ever gets a spin-off.
This show has popular names as actors and it was fun seeing Shruti Seth and Mahesh Thakur together on same show again after 2003 TV Show – Shararat. The series does end on an abrupt note but there is potential for the makers to return with second season. Light weight family watch; interesting for teenage viewers.
Just like any other boring and poorly written show. There are some parts that can be skipped in ‘Dil Dosti Dilemma’. However, this drama is not one of them. The characters are write down to earth and realistic. It ends up being an overachieving drama with bunch of kids trying to save a whole colony from getting redevelope by the end of it.
Watching Asmara is interesting but Rukhsana played by Vishakha Pandey is a treat for the eyes. While being modern with the youngsters, the show stays traditional with its oldies. I hope DDD comes back soon for another season because it’s such a fun watch!
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