'CommitMental', starring Udhbav Raghunanda and Punarnavi Bhupalam, is now streaming on Aha. Here is our review of the romantic comedy.
Story
Phani (Udhbav Raghunanda), a software engineer, returns to India from the US with the sole purpose of getting married to Anu (Punarnavi Bhupalam), with whom he has been in a long-distance relationship for three years. But Anu is not ready to get married as yet and may well want to break up with him. Over a course of five episodes, the duo talk, fight, talk and fight. Will she say OK in the end?
Performances
YouTuber Udhbav delivers a so-so act. Punarnavi, who has played only small roles in films, gets to play a lead role here. More or less, hers is a one-note act. On the rare occasion she shows something other than irritation, the 'Uyyala Jampala' actress is okayish. Vishnu Oi, Venkatesh Kakamanu, TNR, Raj Madiraju, Sivannarayana and Jabardasth Apparao are good.
Technical aspects
The music and cinematography are apt for a web-series of this kind. Aha ensures production values are decent.
Plus Points
The five-episode web drama is based on 'Permanent Roommates' (a TVF Original) and seeks to tell the story of a young love couple who have some adjustment issues. Both the girl and boy have an equal role in the story and that's refreshing. The heroine retains the power of saying 'no' till the end.
The ending is open-ended. The series is going to have a second season.
Minus Points
The first two episodes are convincing enough, especially because the situations look quirky enough to elicit the audience's attention. But it's from the third episode that the proceedings start getting painfully repetitive and even embarrassingly monotonous.
Phani doesn't look emotionally invested enough in Anu, while the latter constantly disrespects him. She looks peeved througout the season!
Phani's blathering is almost pathological. This is hardly a conversational drama. It's a comedy where one set of characters, especially the male lead, rarely understands what others are telling them. All in the name of comedy. It gets so very unrealistic.
The episodes where a bridegroom and Phani have a chat about sexual positions required two awesome actors. In the absence of it, the scenes just fall flat.
The last episode, where a land registration office is the backdrop, is ridiculously long even at 23 minutes.
Closing Remarks
The Hindi-language original seems to have been misunderstood by director Pavan Sadineni of 'Prema Ishq Kadhal' and 'Savitri' fame. There are hardly any mature conversations in this alleged conversational love story. All that we get is the hero trying out Mr. Bean-esque ways in the presence of the heroine. It's a miracle that five episodes are stuck with this idea. The lead pair patch in the final episode as if they just got over the hangover and thought they should start behaving like adults.
