Kaun Banegi Shikharwati
Directors: Gauravv K Chawla, Ananya Banerjee
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, Raghubir Yadav, Cyrus Sahukar
Streaming Platform: Zee5
An estranged family reuniting after years: a plot filled with opportunities for some memorable comedy and drama. Unfortunately, the first episode of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati fails to bring out either of these emotions. An aging king and his secretary trick his four estranged daughters to visit the royal fort in Rajasthan after a government notice about an income tax investigation threatens to take away the ancestral palace. With the suggestion of his secretary, the king organizes a royal contest, a series of games, to decide the next heir to the 200 crores worth Shikarwati Palace. That’s a precise gist of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, a comedy-drama series directed by Gauravv K Chawla and Ananya Banerjee streaming now on Zee5.
An interesting cast featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, and the most likeable Raghubir Yadav among others generates curiosity about how this family drama will pan out in 10 episodes. But the first one in the line fails to capture attention, or maintain it for long, even if some moments engross you. Writer Ananya Banerjee ensures to clearly present the idea that this royal family is made up of four princesses who are totally different from each other. So much so that their father, Raja Mrityunjay Singh Shikharwat (Naseeruddin Shah) even describes one as confident, the other as warm, so on and so forth, much like an orange is different from an apple, even if they are both fruits.
Devyani (Lara), Gayatri (Soha), Kamini (Kritika), and Uma (Anya) even get their respective introductions that establish their striking different personalities in the very first few minutes of the episode. It would have been a delight if the episode followed the simple rule of ‘Show, don’t tell’, and distinct individualities of the characters showed up in their interactions with each other, and in their moments of solitude, instead of labelling them ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’ ‘D’ like four different options from the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Naseeruddin Shah’s quirky humour falls short to elicit a decent giggle and you are left wondering, why are we still expected to laugh at the same old scenes featuring a shooter about to miss the target object placed on a person’s head. Raghubir Yadav as secretary Mishra Ji is still likeable, and so is the camaraderie he shares with Shah’s King. Lara, Soha, Kritika, and Anya however, lower your expectations, at least in the first episode.
The first episode might make you wonder about the shared past of this royal family which lead them to be estranged and cold with each other. The rest of the episodes will have the answer.
Watch Kaun Banegi Shikarwati on Zee5.
Kaun Banegi Shikharwati
Directors: Gauravv K Chawla, Ananya Banerjee
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, Raghubir Yadav, Cyrus Sahukar
Streaming Platform: Zee5
An estranged family reuniting after years: a plot filled with opportunities for some memorable comedy and drama. Unfortunately, the first episode of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati fails to bring out either of these emotions. An aging king and his secretary trick his four estranged daughters to visit the royal fort in Rajasthan after a government notice about an income tax investigation threatens to take away the ancestral palace. With the suggestion of his secretary, the king organizes a royal contest, a series of games, to decide the next heir to the 200 crores worth Shikarwati Palace. That’s a precise gist of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, a comedy-drama series directed by Gauravv K Chawla and Ananya Banerjee streaming now on Zee5.
An interesting cast featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, and the most likeable Raghubir Yadav among others generates curiosity about how this family drama will pan out in 10 episodes. But the first one in the line fails to capture attention, or maintain it for long, even if some moments engross you. Writer Ananya Banerjee ensures to clearly present the idea that this royal family is made up of four princesses who are totally different from each other. So much so that their father, Raja Mrityunjay Singh Shikharwat (Naseeruddin Shah) even describes one as confident, the other as warm, so on and so forth, much like an orange is different from an apple, even if they are both fruits.
Devyani (Lara), Gayatri (Soha), Kamini (Kritika), and Uma (Anya) even get their respective introductions that establish their striking different personalities in the very first few minutes of the episode. It would have been a delight if the episode followed the simple rule of ‘Show, don’t tell’, and distinct individualities of the characters showed up in their interactions with each other, and in their moments of solitude, instead of labelling them ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’ ‘D’ like four different options from the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Naseeruddin Shah’s quirky humour falls short to elicit a decent giggle and you are left wondering, why are we still expected to laugh at the same old scenes featuring a shooter about to miss the target object placed on a person’s head. Raghubir Yadav as secretary Mishra Ji is still likeable, and so is the camaraderie he shares with Shah’s King. Lara, Soha, Kritika, and Anya however, lower your expectations, at least in the first episode.
The first episode might make you wonder about the shared past of this royal family which lead them to be estranged and cold with each other. The rest of the episodes will have the answer.
Watch Kaun Banegi Shikarwati on Zee5.