'Yeh Meri Family' Review: Relive your childhood!

There was a time when we used to get dragged back in the house for playing outside for too long, not pushed out of it for using cellphones, computers and other gadgets for hours. When families sat together for a meal, they had each other to talk to, not some other people on their phones. The wired landlines were mainstream and the house with a cord less phone was considered to be upper class (even those cord less phones had an operating range from their sets!). This was the time before the new century kicked in and when you tell about this time to kids/ teenagers today, they will certainly be surprised, a lot! The new web series by TVF, titled 'Yeh Meri Family' takes you to a trip down the memory lane to relive those times.

The story, told from the perspective of a 12 year old boy Harshu (Vishesh Bansal), is set in Jaipur, Rajasthan during the summers of 1998. It kicks off when Harshu's school closes for the summer vacation and revolves around his mother (Mona Singh), father (Akarsh Khurana), elder brother Dabbu (Ahan Nirban) and younger sister Dhwani (Ruhi Khan).  Other characters include Harshu's best friend Shanky (Prasad Reddy), his classmate and school crush Vidya (Revathi Pillai) and Harshu's Hindi teacher Verma Sir (Brij Bhushan Shukla). The show travels through 7 episodes exploring the different dynamics of life as experienced by Harshu and the things he learns during that particular summer vacation, or the Summer of '98 as the title says.

The first thing I noticed and was most astonished by was the attention that was paid to the smallest of details to make it seem authentically from that time. We all know that things have changed quite a lot since 1998, and remarkably, the show was able to retain all the visual elements from the mentioned time. Be it the brands of the products which were in use at that time, the giant CRT television with green volume bar, a book of 'Rapidex English Speaking Course', or the umpteen references to the events happening during that time. To mention a few, famous Dhara advertisement, Sachin Tendulkar's 'desert storm' against Australia, movies like 'Raja Hindustani' and 'Mrityudata' being in theatres, and many more. The story too develops quite well over the 7 episodes and feels rounded towards the end of the last episode. What may not be explicitly mentioned, but 2nd episode onwards, each episode is dedicated towards an individual in the story, and all of them are executed very well. Special mention to the direction of Sameer Saxena, and his brilliant team of story writers and art directors for achieving all of this. The music of the show is top notch, which now we have come to expect of all the TVF titles. One of the key yet underrated aspects of the show are its dialogues, or certain conversations between the characters. Just to cite a few, Shanky translating and narrating the Bryan Adams' hit single 'Summer of 69' to Harshu, "Papa cool dikhte nahi hain, Papa cool hain" (Dad doesn't look cool, Dad is cool), analogy between Kite flying and mothers, and many more (the show is filled with a lot of such pearls).

All the actors are cast perfectly and their performances speak for them. They seem like a genuine, real life family and their performance is one of the main reasons that the show becomes relatable to such a great extent. I was able to relate to almost everything on a personal level, and their was an immediate connection with the show after watching the first episode itself, and that connection grew stronger throughout the course of all the 7 episodes.

You will smile, you will laugh, you will feel sad, you may cry, you will definitely relate, and most important of all, you will enjoy. This is a sweet sweet (Yes, the 2 sweets are intentional!) nostalgia trip down your childhood lane, taking you to those innocent times which you will always cherish.

Go watch the binge out of this one!

Link: Yeh Meri Family