Permanent Roommates- Realistic, Sensible and Addictive.

Kokila wakes up from a two-day coma, slurring incomprehensible words, and the serial ends there, leaving us on a supposed cliff-hanger. The following day, we are promised to be shown an amnesic Kokila whose usual home wear is Kanchipuram silk saree and 1 kg of gold jewels. Probably half-a-dozen characters appear of which each of them introduces another half-a-dozen characters with dialogues such as, “Hey priya, if Arjun comes to know this. I am sure anita and Rahul wouldn’t like this. you should be careful with preetha who by now would have informed Mr Pratheep!”

oh Goodness Gracious!
These are the sort of storylines we see in everyday TV series. Nail biting? Not so much. Nerve wracking? Definitely. Sloppy scripts, high-end drama and long-drawn climaxes have made regional TV series more of a laughing stock than a meaningful show. Mothers and grandmothers seem genetically driven to watch and weep over them for years for the same drama.

To end all this, there has been efforts taken to appeal to the Indian youth who are searching for an Indian version of Netflix. So where do we get our fair share of entertainment and fun?  Over the weekend, as I was browsing through and watching a few short films, I came across the web-series titled “Permanent Roommates”(PR). It was released in 2014. The series have successfully launched 2 seasons (total of 9 episodes). To date, Permanent Roommates is the 2nd most watched long form web series in the WORLD (after 'Video Game High School') on YouTube. It was listed among the highest rated TV Series in 2014 on IMDb.

With such global accolades, I couldn’t wait to watch the series to see what it had stored for me! Oh boy, where do I even start yaar? This is too good- was what I screamed after watching every 30-minute episode of the series. Not once, did I feel bored or insulted. (Because there are other shows which literally insults the viewers’ intelligence) It is genuinely funny with real emotional depth and holds up just as well in today’s light. 



The series follows the life of Tanya and Mikesh, who have been in a long-distance relationship for three years. When Mikesh comes down from the U.S to propose to Tanya, he finds out that she’s not yet ready for such a commitment and the story takes off from there. According to Indian cinema's entertainment lingo, we can undoubtedly call this series, a “paisa vasool”. Fun, entertainment, humour, really sensible humour, plot, storyline,  dialogues, extraordinary characterization, prodigious acting- everything that are required to make your mind and soul to be rejuvenated, are absolutely in abundance in PR.

In fact, I kept watching certain scenes again and again, because the fun element presented in those scenes are seriously addictive. 

(Tanya and Mikesh quarrel in the car. Mikesh, instantly, gets out of the car. Stops a few inches away from the car and makes a phone call to Tanya. Their phone conversation to end the quarrel is, indeed, one of the cutest romantic scene that I've ever seen in an Indian series.)



(You may label this as a hilariously serious scene or a seriously hilarious one. Top-notch acting with some really realistic dialogues make it a delight to watch)



(My favourite character would be the grandpa. Another funny moment- when Mikesh's family sees Tanya for the first time and comments that she looks like Sadhana)



(Who writes such fantastic dialogues, yaar?)


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