Review: Star Plus' Meri Bhabhi

Shows on varied rishtas (relationships) have already thronged our TV screens, but Star Plus’ recent venture Ek Nanad Ki Khushiyon Ki Chaabi – Meri Bhabhi (DJ’s A Creative Unit), has introduced the relation less talked about; the relation between a bhabhi and nanad. The show launched last night (17 June 2013) started with Kritika (Esha Kansara) preparing a card for her father-in-law Col. Zorawar (Zor) Singh Shergill (Kanwaljit Singh) for his midnight birthday party. Kittu as she is called by the family is shown as the perfect wife who looks at her husband Anand dotingly as they sign the card together. Esha looks in her character but it seems that she is trying too hard to fit the bill of a bubbly Punjabi bahu. She should try to go with the flow and be more natural. Moving on, as per the plot, the entire family gets together to wish Zor, who is shown waiting for his daughter Shraddha to call and wish him on his birthday. Supriya Pilgaonkar who plays his wife, teases him for his desperation on not receiving the call. Veterans like them can spark up any character with their perfect portrayal and methodical acting. Supriya, who is back on TV after last being a part of Lakhon Mein Ek on Star Plus, looked lovely and gracious. We were then introduced to Shraddha (Kanchi Kaul) who lives in Mumbai. The wall with the Gurunanak’s picture in front of which she is praying, is mapped with cracks and repair marks, hinting on her troubled life. Her son further confirms their struggled life when he says that there is no balance (recharge amount) on her phone to call Zor to wish him. In the morning we are shown Shraddha supplying dabbas to earn a livelihood, and the landlord threatening to claim his due rent money. We realise that there is something that she's hiding from her family, when she sells off her household item to get mere two thousand rupees. Kanchi Kaul is doing justice to the role with her natural act and a ‘sorry’ expression. But things could have been better at the costume level. And her struggles on the first day, where she gets her phone recharged to call up her father but ends up meeting with an accident and breaks her phone was a bit over dramatic. Guess the makers want to play up on the sympathy card. Back in Delhi, we see Zor, who is so upset over his daughter not calling him up on his birthday that he refuses to have any kind of celebration. Kittu in her own quirky way convinces Zor to cut the cake and just as he's about to do it, Shraddha calls him. During this call Kritika realises that there is something troubling Shraddha and maybe she's hiding something. This will act as the trigger for further developments on the show, with Kittu asking Anand to go to Mumbai to look deep into the matter, as shown in the precap. The show looks promising in the first episode, and the viewers in the coming episodes will get to know about the facts that Shraddha has been hiding from her family from the past seven years. And also, how her bhabhi Kittu will let her overcome her struggles to lead a happy and normal life once again. The storyline is not anything new, but we will wait and watch how the makers play up with varied emotional elements to churn out interesting sequences.