Bhaag Beanie Bhaag is a comedy-drama TV show directed by Debbie Rao, Ishaan Nair and Abi Varghese and starring Swara Bhaskar, Varun Thakur, Ravi Patel, Dolly Singh, Mona Ambegaonkar and Girish Kulkarni.
The comedy genre is quite rocking these days, be it the numerous standup shows that come out on Netflix almost every week, or the movies and shows that are slowly inching their way into this popular source of entertainment. For Bollywood, the theme is quite new, and Bhaag Beanie Bhaag has its moments. However, does it tug on your heartstrings and also make you laugh out loud? Eh, not quite.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag follows Beanie Bhatnagar who finds herself trapped in a boring relationship and a dead-end job. Her dream is to be a standup comedian, but she can’t get out of the shackles that tie her down. So, on one of the “biggest” days of her life, she decides enough is enough and ventures out into the unknown to chase her dream.
As intriguing as the central plot sounds, and really, it is quite fresh, Beanie Bhatnagar is not funny. In a series that is about a standup comedian, main girl Beanie has very few jokes that make you laugh. Sure, you chuckle here and there, but that’s the extent of your entertainment. Her struggles, although quite real, don’t seem to be deep enough for you to feel bad for her and that might just be because Swara Bhaskar herself doesn’t feel too relatable. Her reactions in Bhaag Beanie Bhaag seem superficial and too much sometimes. Coupled with the unfunny jokes, it can get hard to find reasons to like the leading lady.
However, for every Beanie there’s a Kapi and we thus have Dolly Singh to save the show. Singh is an ace comedian and you can see that in her captivating screen presence and in how natural she is with her badass comebacks and comic timings. Kapi is a treat to watch in Bhaag Beanie Bhaag and it’s a shame that we don’t get to see her more often.
In addition to Singh, I also quite liked Ravi Patel’s character Ravi. Yes, I know he turns out to be quite the debacle in the end, but hey, he’s a sweetheart and I wish he had a better character arc. Patel plays his character with much heart and warmth and you get to see and feel that every time he comes on-screen. Other actors including Varun Thakur, Mona Ambegaonkar and Girish Kulkarni are also great in their roles and are a treat to watch.
Although Bhaag Beanie Bhaag has a fresh theme to work with, its conflicts and problems are things that we have seen before. I mean, parents not okay with their daughter doing something for themselves has been done to death. Add to that Beanie’s father is an absolute a-hole who speaks about her daughter’s reproductive rights as if he’s talking about raising cattle. It’s not cute and you feel irritated all the time. However, kudos to the series for introducing the concept of therapy as a viable (and a necessary) way of dealing with issues you might have. That’s something that seriously needs to be normalised in 2020.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag’s central conflict encompasses Beanie and her struggles with her parents. However, I wish they had introduced a conflict very personal to the comedy scene since not a lot of people know about it. Beanie more or less gets gigs whenever she pleases – although they have shown a few things here and there, we don’t go too deep into it. It was an opportunity that the show missed, but considering the open end, I hope they dive more into that in the second season.
Summing up: Bhaag Beanie Bhaag
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag doesn’t do anything new with the fresh theme that it introduces. It’s all about a woman and her dreams, parents who want their daughter to fall at her husband’s feet and several painfully unfunny jokes. It’s a no-brain entertainer for sure but with several loopholes and too much baby talk.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag is streaming on Netflix.
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