Coming as a fresh breeze of relief among mostly crime based content being released left and right, TAJ MAHAL 1989 is a 7 episode light hearted, romantic series talking about how love changes lives of its various characters.
Written and directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra, it is set in Lucknow, in the time period of the late ‘80s (as mentioned in the title) with two key merits that make it a pleasant watch taking you back in the era when there were no mobiles, no internet and no immediate communication possible between people (especially the love couples).
Its first merit is the joy of watching some highly relatable and natural performances from a stellar cast including
Neeraj Kabi, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Sheeba Chadha and
Danish Hussain. And second is the delightful nostalgia, prominently felt in its detailed backdrops, cinematography, art-direction, costumes, the charming interaction, use of urdu poetry and songs to portray the love expressed by different age-groups. Interestingly the nostalgia element was earlier also well-incorporated in the must watch series
YEH MERI FAMILY also available at
Netlfix.
(Click here to read the YEH MERI FAMILY review at BTC).
TAJ MAHAL 1989 beautifully describes the middle-class living of the late ‘80s in a poetic way along with showcasing the young student-life and how they all individually deal with their love issues in the era before the net-age. The entangle between the key characters is complex and layered but the director decently tries to make us feel the way the characters used to think and relate in those years through smart references of old serials, famous brands, advertisements and other commonly used things.
However, what limits the reach and impact of the series is the lack of desired depth and the overall polishing of the presentation which somehow suffers due to too much happening in the script and quite hushed up presentation summing it all in just 7 episodes. At times both the editing and background score also seems uneven and thus the end-result doesn’t turn out to be as superior as one expects it to be in the beginning of the first two episodes.
In short, it is no doubt a decent attempt (coming as a relief) wherein all the characters keep trying to build their own Tajmahal as the symbol of their love. But as a series, it surely could have been much more than just a good and likable attempt. Still would like to recommend TAJ MAHAL 1989 as they are not making a lot on love in the web-series these days, more emphasizing on crime, mystery, suspense and the erotic dramas. So do try watching and have a great time visiting the innocent era of 1989.
Rating : 3 / 5
Directed by Pushpendra Nath Mishra
Starring : Neeraj Kabi, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Danish Hussain, Sheeba Chadha and more.
Tags :
TAJMAHAL 1989 (Netflix) Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, New Netflix Web Series Reviews by Bobby Sing, New Online Content Reviews by Bobby Sing, Web Series Reviews at bobbytalkscinema.com
