Dupahiya is a delightfully clever, comedic confection

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The script, let me state at the very beginning, stands out! It is not only fantastically humorous and wicked, but suffused with subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle looks at life’s truisms, key values and above all delightful twists and entertainment. What’s more, natural sequences from the earlier parts of the 9-episode series form the base of a future revelation and thus, if we take the show as a kind of thriller (after all, it is about who stole a bike or Dupahiya), there is no flaw in the flow of the storyline.

I also found the climax and post-climax very real instead of being needlessly dramatic in the ‘trope’ sense of the word. It’s a happy ending at one level and an open end at the other.

I will not go into the depths of the story, which must be watched and enjoyed without any spoilers. Suffice to say that the ‘heroine’, Roshni Jha (Shivani Raghuvanshi) prefers younger brother, Kuber (Avinash Dwivedi, also the co-creator and co-writer) over his elder brother, Durlabh (Godaan Kumar), when her family and her visit the Tripathi family with a marriage proposal. This is because Keshu is educated and lives in the city, unlike Durlabh, and Roshni wishes to live the modern life!

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But there is a catch, apart from Kuber being the younger brother: the dowry will now be nothing less than a brand-new Dupahiya (two-wheeler) costing three lakh. Roshni persuades her father, Banwari Jha (Gajraj Rao) to raise the amount. The sum is raised and the bike bought to the envy of the village. And then it is stolen.

And now the most vital point: in the district, Dhadakpur is the only crime-free village. And if the theft is discovered, it will have multiple negative repercussions on its future, including clean drinking water and so on!

From here begins a merry-go-round of panchayats, their meetings and politics and the fervent desire to hide the theft at all costs! But how do they show the machine to the already greedy groom? Obviously, what must be prevented in the interests of the entire village is a First Information Report or FIR filed with the police. But, but, but…!

Involved in all this is the local representative, Pushpalata (Renuka Shahane), who aims to be a sarpanch, her dark-skinned daughter Nirmal (Komal Kushwaha) who wants to become fair by cosmetic treatment, a kleptomaniac named Amavas (Bhuvan Arora), who has always loved Roshni but feels that he is not good enough for her, a sleep-crazy inspector, Mithilesh (Yashpal Sharma), his audacious deputy, Deendayal (Bhaskar Jha), Banwari’s over-ambitious and reckless son, Bhugol (Sparsh Shrivastava), his friend Teepu (Samarth Mahor) who loves Nirmal, Teepu’s father, the wealthy Ghuttan (Manoj Tiger), a desperate journalist, Madan Kumar (Chandan Kumar), a whacky newspaper editor (Brijendra Kala) who keeps ending all his spoken sentences with the word “Pardon”, and other crazy but colorful characters.

After a rather slow and tepid beginning. Dupahiya picks up steam and never relents, and each episode ends with a slide telling us the decreasing number of days left for Roshni’s wedding. The seeming side-plots are all linked to the main story in some way and the suspense about the real thief comes in the form of a surprise that at the same time is not far-fetched but logical.

The production design (Prashant Ray and Shraddha Vasugavade) and art direction by Ashish Kumar and others is first-rate, while Piyush Puty’s camera lovingly addresses the emotions as well as the drama in both the indoor and outdoor sequences. There are times when Yashashwini Y.P.’s editing seems jerky, but again it is all explained. The costume design is superb, staid in most cases and gaudy whenever needed (Veera Kapur Ee). Somesh Saha’s music is apt.

But as I said at the start, it is the story (happily concluded and not set for a Season 2) and script and especially the one-liners (writing credits listed below) that make Dupahiya not only a great watch but score over the other Amazon show, Panchayat, which was almost as good in the opening season but went adrift later.

This is director Sonam Nair’s best work to date across big-screen and small and she deserves any number of compliments for this earthy series that says everything about villages today and their values.

The performances of all the actors are fabulous, but among them, Sparsh Shrivastava, Bhuvan Arora, Gajraj Rao, Yashpal Sharma, Renuka Shahane, Samarth Mahor, Bhaskar Jha, Avinash Dwivedi and Godaan Kumar especially rock. Sparsh is even better than in Laapataa Ladies, his debut film that released exactly a year back, and shows his dancing skills as well with aplomb. Shivani Raghuvanshi interprets the vacillating between timid and bold and later determined Roshni to perfection. In an ill-developed role, Komal Kushwaha still scores. Anjuman Saxena is also good as Roshni’s mother.

In smaller cameos, Mac Lara as council member Kamlesh, Vinod Jewant as the owl-owning don Parmaanu Singh, Shriram Jog as ex-dacoit Kadak Singh, Sanjay Sonu as the pandit, Pranjal Pateriya as Pintubhai and Brijendra Kala stand out.

You really cannot afford to miss this magnificent rural ramble!

Rating: ****1/2

Amazon Prime Video presents Bombay Film Cartel’s Dupahiya Creators: Salona Bains Joshi, Shubh Shivdasani , Avinash Dwivedi & Chirag Garg  Produced by: Salona Bains Joshi & Shubh Shivdasani Directed by: Sonam Nair Written by: Avinash Dwivedi, Chirag Garg & Srinivas Avasarala  Music: Somesh Saha  Starring: Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane, Sparsh Shrivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi. Bhuvan Arora, Manoj Tiger, Yashpal Sharma, Samarth Mahor, Bhaskar Jha, Avinash Dwivedi, Aaloak Kapoor, Godaan Kumar, Mac Lara, Vinod Jaywant, Shriram Jog, Sanjay Sonu, Pranjal Pateriya, Brijendra Kala, Komal Kushwaha, Chandan Kumar, Shriram Jog, Anjuman Saxena, Yogendra Tikku, Smriti Mishra, Nilakshi Naithani & others

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