Love Storiyaan is a well-conceived and riveting docu-series

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This show is about a series of six romances in real life that were challenging in different ways in their time and reached fruition and more. The differences were in community, religion, social and education status, ethnicity and even genders (a trans-woman with a trans-man).

The first episode, An Unsuitable Girl, between Punjabi mother of two daughters Aekta Kapoor and Ullekh from Kerala, is probably the best of the lot. The heartwarming tale directed by Hardik Mehta and written by him with Mirat Trivedi explores the world of opposition and reluctance from parents and above all the children, and the final acceptance and even approval.

In a template largely followed by the remaining episodes, we have the actual protagonists as well as actors playing them in the past, and interviews also with their nears and dears, actual locations and created details for the actors. And since a happy ending is already there, the look-backs are as factual as they are amusing and enlightening as well as warm and uplifting—and often moving.

The six couples are very candid and very demonstrative in their unapologetic affection and respect for each other, tinged often with past doubt as well as dry humor. Photographs add to the tangy interest and relevant issues like unsuitable marriages and conventional mores that can damage people’s happiness are highlighted. The eternal search for true love and peace and unconditional happiness remains paramount.

The rest of the episodes are similarly about very interesting (love) stories: of Nicolas and Rajani, rival Radio Jockeys of different religions, who are brought together by a common listener, a 75 year-old couple from Bangladesh who make India their home, a Dalit activist and an ex-IIT graduate from an urban very rich family and a love story between an Indian and an Afghan that begins in Russia and goes up to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Then there is the final story of two transgender people.

Each episode is perfectly curated to indicate that love is all that matters in this ephemeral and whimsical world and the variety offered is interesting. Happily, all the stories are crisply told and directed and the music adds to the atmosphere.

This is great home entertainment for those seeking real stories outside the world of crime and politics and completes a trio of recent interesting fare from Dharmatic Entertainment after Aye Watan Mere Watan and Showtime.

Amazon Prime Video presents Dharmatic Entertainment’s Love Storiyaan  Created by: Somen Mishra Executive Producers: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta & Somen Mishra  Directed by: Rahul Badwelkar, Collin D’Cunha, Akshay Indikar, Shazia Iqbal, Hardik Mehta, Archana Phadke & Vivek Soni  Written by: Somen Mishra, Tejashri Akshay, Rahul Badwelkar, Collin D’Cunha, Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar, Akshay Indikar, Shazia Iqbal, Hardik Mehta, Archana Phadke, Arya Rothe, Vivek Soni, Mirat Trivedi , Aarsh Vora & Hardik Mehta  Music: Shantanu Dutta, Sangeet Haldipur & Siddharth Haldipur, Sarang Kulkarni & Anurag Saikia