Review: 'Kota Factory' brilliantly presents the claustrophobia of a student with perfect subtlety

Rating - **** (4/5)

Published: 星期三,4月 17, 2019 10:00 上午 GMT-06:00

Kunal Nirmal Kothari

Whenever anybody would blame about the lack of quality content in India (I include myself too), they are given subtle reminders in the form of some of the most amazing shows. The irony to the same and complain about content, however, is the fact that there is a barrage of shows and films that either go unnoticed or just don't click with many viewers.

TVF (The Viral Fever) is one of the flag-bearers of making the digital scenario the massive juggernaut it is today. Responsible for Pitchers and Permanent Roommates, the channel has now presented another show in the form of Kota Factory.

The series' first episode was released on the Youtube channel of the company and also on the TVF Play app. Clocking almost 48 minutes, here's what I thought about it-

The Premise

The concept is as simple as it gets as we meet Vaibhav Pandey (Mayur More), a simple student who has come to the city of Kota and is struggling to get into the most reputed coaching classes in the city in the form of Maheswari Classes. However, he manages to get into Prodigy Classes and thus begins his journey of trying to being an IIT-JEE student and the many challenges that come with it.

The Cinematography

It isn't often that we talk about cinematography straight of the bat. But this show deserves a special mention of the same right away. Presented in black-and-white, there is a certain sense of freshness to the aerial shots, shuffled scenes, montages and the general framework of almost every sequence. The cinematography by Jerin Paul is aimed at making you feel old-school but not losing the connect with the current generation at the same time. The show thrives on presenting the claustrophobia of a student and the same is captured beautifully not crossing the bar too.

The Music

TVF is also responsible for some of the most original great tracks over the years in several shows. Their usual go-to man is Vaibhav Bundhoo but this time, the show has Karthik Rao and Simran Hora taking over. Subtle tunes with some melodious music and a rush when needed along with minimal but impactful lyrics perfectly complement the show as it should.

The Performances

The protagonist Mayur More is a natural and I just don't mean that in terms of his acting but also in terms of being himself in real life. When does an actor give a flawless performance? When he/she is either playing a character who is exactly like him/her in real life too. Mayur has to be himself as he would have been as a student otherwise too. Of course, he may not have necessarily been a IIT-JEE student and I am not taking away anything from his performance but it is the sheer simplicity of his Vaibhav that makes him likable yet complex.

However, if there is one actor that deserves all the plaudits then that is Ranjan Raj as Mena. A part of several video sketches of the channel in the past, Ranjan gets his best character ever and boy does he perform brilliantly too. He is the life of the show and it is one of the best acting performances I have seen in recent times.

Jeetendra Kumar as Professor Jeetu is at his usual best and his one-on-one scene with Vaibhav reflects his acting chops in the best way.

The Dialogues

Another area that the show excels at is the dialogues. I don't quite know if writer Abhishek Yadav or creator Saurabh Khanna are responsible for the dialogues in the show but one way or another, they are simply outstanding. Lines like "Kota factory nahi, sheher hua karta tha," and "iss Jurrassic Park ki sthapna unhone hi ki thi (referring to a professor being talked about)" are the heartbeat of the show. Also, Jeetu's monolgoue of sorts with Vaibhav cannot be missed.

The Pace

The only substantial negative point I can point out is the pace of the show. It isn't deliberately slow but does seem like it during some moments. A few scenes appear bland as compared to others but that can change in the upcoming episodes. Another thing I feel is that the runtime could have been shorter as 48 minutes appear a little too long for a show like this on a platform like Youtube.

The Impact

With minor points to consider, Kota Factory is a fantastic tale of a student's journey in a brutally competitive world and while it can easily get cliched, it doesn't.

Rating - **** (4/5)

Comments (3)

PaYa_Shivika @PaYa_Shivika

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KKHH is one of my all time Fav movie of Evergreen pair kajol-srk.

Can watch n no of times...never get tired of this film.

Kajol's Brilliant performance as tomboyish and adorable Anjali...It looked as if these two roles played by two actress...Kajol the best...Natural actress ever indian film produced.
Magical chemistry of Magical couple.

Love you Kajol

8 years ago