Crash Course Review: A lengthy college drama boasts on solid performances and a good dose of drama and politics
Crash Course Web Series Rating: 2.5 Stars
Just watched Crash Course web series on Amazon Prime Video. So, let’s analyze the cast, story, release date, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast:Annu Kapoor, Bhanu Uday, Pranay Pachauri, Riddhi Kumar, Anushka Kaushik, Hridhu Haroon, Mohit Solanki, Bhavesh Balchandani, Udit Arora, Bidita Bag, Aryan Singh, Hetal Gada, Anvesha Vij and Siddharth Kak
Director: Vijay Maurya
Release Date: 5th August 2022 (Amazon Prime Video)
Duration: 10 Episodes/ 45 Minutes
Story: Set in Kota, series revolves around two rival IIT coaching institutes, RJ and Batra’s. While the RJ institute is owned by Ratanraj Jindal (Annu Kapoor) which is a large shark in the coaching industry and attempting to devour all the smaller ones. Batra’s is owned by Arvind Batra (Siddharth Kak) who is known as the father of education. Since the latter doesn’t believe in the rat race, it is his son Shashank (Bhanu Uday) who actually runs the Batra Institute.
Both competitors share the same goal to enroll as many students as possible and produce the most top scorers.They resort to all sorts of tricks to get as many students as possible and grab the number one spot. Arvind opposes this policy and even distances himself from Shashank, who has marketing expertise and is constantly devising dubious strategies to compete with RJ Institute. Amid all this, the students become collateral damage.
Show also follows a group of friends who are IIT aspirants. Vidhi Gupta (Anushka Kaushik) is one of the toppers from the RJ institute but she is weak in physics and therefore wants to shift to Batra’s. She’s smart and funny but only cares about topping in her exams. Sathya Srinivasan (Hridhu Haroon) is also a topper from RJ institute but he starts slipping in his studies when he falls for Shanaya Qazi (Ridhhi Kumar).
Shanaya is a medical student and ends up getting pregnant, which ruins all her plans. Though Sathya helps her in getting an abortion and dealing with the situation, Shanaya eventually leaves Kota. Anil Baid (Mohit Solanki) isn’t a straight-A student but he puts in a lot of effort. He likes Vidhi but her only focus is getting a seat in an IIT. Aviral Bharti (Bhavesh Balchandani) adds to the humour quotient along with Rakesh Gulia (Aryan Singh) whose father wants him to boxer but he want to crack IIT.
Tejal Patel (Hetal Gada) is roommate of Vidhi and studied in Batra institute. Nikki (Anvesha Vij) is best friend of Shanaya. One can easily relate to everyone’s personal and ambitious life. As the two drastically different worlds of the students and the coaching institute owners collide, there is pandemonium. The stakes are raised, motives clash and lives are put at risk. What happens next is all about this series.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Cinematography
3. Screenplay
4. Story
Negatives
1. Climax
2. Music
3. Length
4. Direction
5. Unnecessary sub-plots
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I have watched the trailer of this series planned to watch in free time because loved the trailer and looks like a new version of Kota Factory.
Set in the IIT aspirants factory of India, Crash Course is a drama series that follows the cutthroat rivalry between two giant coaching institutes and the consequences on the lives of the students who come there to study. On this journey of adulthood, the students find friendship, experience first love, heartbreaks, peer pressure, and lose the innocence of youth.
Within the scope of the business of education, the show has multiple arcs all entangling with each other at a rapid pace, leading to a predictable outcome. Some of the arcs come off half-baked and perhaps removing those would’ve created space for other important themes to be better explored. Either the time should have been used more productively to cover more issues and background storylines or it should have been cut short. There are some sequences that feel overly stretched and put off the audience. The plot is not novel and sometimes even predictable. It follows a pattern that has been seen before a few types with better execution. Even though revisits and dramatises plots and topics that are already done, they are still worth taking a look at.
It deals with sensitive topics that are still very relevant and important despite being touched upon in other media. The high suicide rates and the pressure of academics is a reality in the country and especially in a competitive city like Kota, and that is depicted realistically. It evokes the right emotions at times and deals with friendship, bonds and the problems these youngsters face aptly. The dialogues are lifelike and relatable. The writers show that they have their finger on the pulse when it comes to issues such as this. Series has expertly captured the flavor of the city by focusing on local streets before moving on to eateries and the mess where students spend most of their time. With the help of close-up shots, he also manages to capture the characters tense mood.
Cutting the scenes showcasing the marketing and competitive skills of both institutes, which take up a lot of screen time would have helped. The show is very lengthy but it has a premise that deals with issues realistically. The true face and the fierce competition including the corruption, the stress of individuals and parents and the relatable friendships and dialogues is a plus point which may compel you to watch this series. Solid performances and a good dose of drama and politics make it decent viewing. My View on this web-series Recommended if you liked Kota Factory.
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