Manufacturing HAPPY ENDINGS
MARRIAGES, they say, are made in heaven, but filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Alankrita Shrivastava, the creators of Made in Heaven, Amazon Prime’s fifth Indian original series, disagree. The show lays bare the realities of the day mostly depicted as an overblown, noisy affair on screen. Each wedding tackles a different issue—dowry, patriarchal hurdles, class divides—and comes with social commentary delivered by the omnipresent wedding photographer (Shashank Arora).
The protagonists are Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan (Arjun Mathur), who run a wedding planning enterprise in Delhi. Tara, from a modest background, has moved up in life by marrying a rich industrialist (Jim Sarbh); Karan, on the other hand, is deeply in debt and his topsy-turvy romantic life consists of a string of one-night stands with men he meets at bars. The show follows them as they negotiate professional and personal hurdles and the demons of their past. The shades of grey in each character make the show, which only gets richer with each episode, a compelling watch.
Standing tall amidst the supporting characters is Jazz (Shivani Raghuvanshi), a star-struck girl from the margins who joins the wedding planning team. While Tara and Jazz’s characters enable the writers to explore the stark class disparity in the capital, Karan’s story reveals people’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.
Made in Heaven is as close as an Indian series can get to American TV, especially with its tasteful depiction of sexual encounters (for both genders), but heavy use of English language limits its audience.
The show, though lacking wry takes on the absurd demands and shenanigans omnipresent in these weddings, is still worthy of bingewatching, with Tara’s marital troubles and her identity crisis providing the most potent conflicts. Dhulipala delivers a nuanced performance, revealing the insecurities and rage her character hides. The conclusion sets the stage for big challenges and also more weddings. After all, if there’s one business that’s unlikely to shut down, it’s the one of matrimony.