A very good show that strays away from what it promises yet remains captivating till the very end.

Subverting expectations

Faadu is not a thriller, but every time you expect the story to go in one direction it manages to surprise you and often pleasantly.

There’s this feeling of grave danger and fear around Abhay’s character and his antics. The creators play into it to hook you as a viewer. There’s a common trend of Indian OTT shows to include dark twists to establish “the grit” of the characters. Faadu doesn’t go down the route of gore, abuse or oversexualised content and it makes you focus on the story.

The story

The show starts with a dynamic young boy Abhay (played by Pavail Gulati) from the slums who is intelligent, jugaadu, and ambitious. The heart of the story lies in the ambition of the protagonist. It’s never clear where he wants to go, and the creators play very well into it. Saiyami Kher’s Manjiri, meanwhile, is a breath of fresh air.

As you watch Faadu, you are charmed by her authenticity. She is easily the best part of the show and it is clearly the best performance of her career so far. There are moments.

As you are shown the extents which Abhay is willing to go to succeed, you begin to worry for the couple. The creators need to be lauded for building the connection of the leads with the viewer within the first few episodes.

The show peaks around the 9th episode, “Daisies in the Desert”, which is easily the best episode in the series. It takes you down a beautiful picturisation of Konkan where you get a glimpse into the routine of Manjiri’s father (played by Girish Oak.) His 1:1s with Rocksy (wonderfully done by Abhilash Thapliyal) are the highlight of the show for me.

Author’s note: Sony LIV please give us a spin-off of Manjiri’s dad and Rocksy helping out lost souls.

As the protagonist goes too deep into pursuing his ambition, he crosses a few lines and gets into trouble (trying to keep it vague to avoid spoilers.)

The last couple of episodes are not as enjoyable as they lack the charm and chemistry of the lead couple. Their interactions made the story loveable and lack there-of throws you away from the story immersion.

If there’s going to be a Season 2, the lead duo need to interact a lot more to keep viewers interested in the story.

What’s Faadu?

Why is the show called Faadu? When you think of a faadu love story it implies a crash-boom-bang, bollywood masala with dramatic set pieces. The actual show is a gentle, charming slow-burn story for most of it. Why should you watch Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s “Faadu – A Love Story” on Sony LIV? Sony LIV is sneaking in some quality content over the last couple of years. Faadu is one of them, give in to the promos and give it a watch.