Raat Jawaan Hai is an exhilarating watch despite the expletives

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No, this ain’t a family series! It’s about three childhood friends who are now coincidentally SAHD (Stay at Home Dad) and SAHM (Stay at Home Moms) for their respective offspring and forage for time to be together. Maybe forage isn’t the right term, however. They do find time to be together, often with misadventures, but lack the freedom for ‘extraordinary’ ‘we-time’ like watching a movie, maybe, or having a night out just having a peg or more at a bus stop.

And when I say that it is not family viewing, I mean that it is stuffed (as always) with completely needless, expletives, which takes the series into a zone where a substantial chunk of audience already full to the ears with “trendy” cusswords can be alienated. After all, a feel-good saga of friendship (there is the ubiquitous formula of three friends, but this time, it is two girls and a man) should not have even the slightest f****** resemblance to a Mirzapur or Raktanchal, right?

Remove those objectionable elements and what remains is a relatable, exhilarating, fairly fresh and completely engaging (though the first three episodes seem to go downhill and made me a shade restive) from episode 4 (of 8). Realistically depicted with a lot of humor and depth, we see the intense camaraderie companionship of the three souls Suman (Priya Bapat), Avinash (Barun Sobiti) and Radhika (Anjali Anand), who all have cute kids and—more important—working and understanding spouses, though there is a passing ruffle of a suspected past (as in college!) affair between Suman and Avinash.  

The three buddies are so thick that quarrels and spats are as much common amidst them as the bonhomie and emotional parleys, interspersed with funny, hilarious and even poignant tales on everything from periods and pregnancy to a birthday party that ends with a shock, a desire to work instead of sit at home, and unwanted in-laws. Then we have the hunt for nannies, passing the looking-after-kids buck to parents, and more.

If the series is lifted several notches despite the gaali glitches, it is due to Sumeet Vyas’ assured direction, a racy script (after the writer finds her bearings from episode 4) that is replete with hilarious one-liners and situations, the solid lead players and the cute kids who seem to be in incredible sync with the subject’s demands, so much so that I suspect that some perfect expressions may have been done on them using Computer Graphics!

The background score is adequate and the songs forgettable, but the performances exalt the series to a tall level. Priya Bapat almost never goes wrong in her choice of assignments, and after some initial discomfort, gets into the groove and emerges as a powerful and very human Suman in this delectable recipe of entertainment!

Barun Sobti is excellently natural as the SAHD and his patently-transparent love for his kid is so real as to be tangible. As a friend, he is earnest yet practical. The scene-stealer (a difficult feat when Priya is around!) is Anjali Anand as Radhika: she is brilliant and her expressions are nothing less than outstanding.

The three kids, as said earlier, are terrific, and to give the devils lots of due, the spouses are fabulous too, especially Vikram Singh Chauhan as Suman’s Sikh husband. Hasleen Kaur is effective as Avinash’s wife, while Priyansh Jora as Anjali’s caring husband is wonderful as well.

I also loved the actress who plays Suman’s mother-in-law: she is decidedly authentic as a conservative north Indian hausfrau.

In short, this is a series that is emphatically worth visiting: I never binge-watch any show, however good, for I think that a critic must also reflect on what has been watched and its connection with earlier and later episodes in a long-format drama, but Raat Jawaan Hai can be a decent candidate for a continuous watch. Couples with kids and real-life SAHDs and SAHMs will identify with this saga of occasionally tough yet lovely parenting—big-time!

But I must nitpick on one point: what is the relevance of the title?

Rating: ****

SonyLIV presents Yamini Pictures Pvt. Ltd.’s Raat Jawaan Hai  Produced by: Vicky Vijay Directed by: Sumit Vyas  Created and written by: Khyati Anand Puthran  Music: OAFF & others Starring: Priya Bapat, Barun Sobti, Anjali Anand, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Hasleen Kaur, Priyansh Jora, Khushvik Sharma, Raayan Nikhil Kanchan, Jia Aman Yagnik