Happy Family Conditions Apply Review: This lighthearted family comedy drama is the perfect medicine for your yearning soul
Happy Family: Conditions Apply Web Series Rating: 4 Stars
Finally watched Happy Family: Conditions Apply web series on Prime Video. So, let’s analyze the cast, release date, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this web series.
Cast: Raj Babbar, Ratna Pathak Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Ayesha Jhulka, Meenal Sahu, Raunaq Kamdar, Sanah Kapur, Ahaan Saboo, Paresh Ganatra, Atul Kumar, Pranoti Pradhan and Margaret Wanjiku Kariuki
Director: Aatish Kapadia & Jamnadas Majethia
Release Date: 10th March 2023 on Prime Video (Every Fridays till 31st March)
Duration: 8 Episodes/ 30 Minutes
Story: Set in Mumbai, series revolves around Dholakias family. Daringbaaz baa Hemlata (Ratna Pathak Shah), her peacemaker husband Mansukhlal (Raj Babbar), their son Ramesh (Atul Kulkarni) who runs a family’s pharmacy and his selfie-obsessed wife Pallavi (Ayesha Jhulka).
This Gujju family’s third generation includes Ayushi (Sanah Kapur), her brother Sanjay (Raunaq Kamdar), and his wife Tisca (Meenal Sahu). And the centre of attention is their son Aryan (Ahaan Saboo) is the first of the fourth generation.
While there are benefits to living with a joint family, Sanjoy’s dream had always been to buy his own house. But when the family was informed, their emotions about this news were as varied as anyone could have imagined. Even though half of the family members were aware of this news, his father-Ramesh Dholakia was furious and felt betrayed by his son’s choice of not letting him know before everyone, making him exclaim at every interview, sage baap ko bhi nahi bataya.
This also resulted in Ramesh feeling upset and somewhat betrayed about how his kids don’t understand his needs as a father especially while Sanjoy wants to leave him and move out with his own family and Ayushi doesn’t wish to marry anyone. Their 2nd son Suresh (Atul Kumar) is living his independent life in America and gets married to someone he loves and when his mother gets to know who his wife is.
While Hemlata only wishes to get her stolen son back from the Kenya-Kumari, her No. 01 Bahu Pallavi explains to her that judging someone basis their race, color or religion is not right, and she should accept her new daughter-in-law. So, when this new jodi comes to visit during Navratri, Kwamboka (Margaret Wanjiku Kariuki) wins over her mother-in-law’s heart that leads to Baa giving her the tag of My No. 01 Bahu.
Tisca being the independent working mom, wants to build her name in the fashion industry and hence when offered a role with a big designer in Delhi, she decided to take it even if that meant leaving her family in Mumbai. After spending some months in Delhi, Tisca returns home and a few months later, finds out that she is pregnant with twins leaving everyone super happy about this news. So much so that when she is advised bed rest, the family decides to shuffle their duties to accommodate her.
While the family came into surprise Sanjoy about Tisca being pregnant with twins, Aysuhi found him with someone she didn’t think she would. Sanjoy reveals to her that he wasn’t with Diana, his business partner but with his architect who he is in love with. While he and Ayushi go to Diana’s house to figure out what are his next steps, Dadaji follows them and finds out his secret too.
Will the Dholiakias overcome the hurdles and live together as a happy family? To know the fate of each member of this family, watch the final two episodes of season one on March 31 exclusively on Prime Video.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Direction
3. Story
4. Screenplay
Negatives
1. Length
2. Last 2 Episodes
3. Unnecessary Sub-plots
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I have watched the trailer of this series planned to watch on its premiere day and every Fridays when new episodes will be available because it’s lighthearted family comedy drama which I always loved.
Meet the Dholakias, a family of four generations living under one roof, as they navigate the ups and downs of their lives. While they appear to be picture perfect, they are endearingly, heartbreakingly human, each with their unique quirks and quibbles. Follow their journey as they try their best to navigate through all the things life throws at them.
Happy Family bring back the old-world charm. The genre of slapstick comedy has pretty much been abolished in today’s times considering the audiences are more into intelligent comedy. They have proved once again that if made well, with relatable characters and instances from real-life. It manages to keep the scenarios funny. From the very onset, they’re very open about the slapstick nature of the show, and they’ve delivered on it aptly. To add to that the little nuances of a common Gujarati household have been shown very nicely. From the weekly family outings to selfie stick antics to the loud and over-the-top dadi everything is very typical, very well balanced and very scrutinizing picked up from real life.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s more of a mash-up of his previous shows, with the same wit and quirky characters that serves as the show’s strength. None of the dialogues are exceptional; rather, they are mundane, which makes them more relatable. And each episode brings a new challenge for the Dolakia family to face, which keeps you interested in their story. However, even though the humour is on point and the actors are clearly enjoying themselves throughout, ‘Happy Family: Conditions Apply’ doesn’t go beyond its core concept and is somewhat limited as a result. At least, that’s what the six episodes available for review are indicating. But one thing remains constant: the jokes continue until the final frame. Last 2 episodes could have been with better and expecting last 2 episodes to excellent like initial episodes.
Overall, series takes you back to simpler times when audiences used to be forgiving and used to enjoy slapstick comedy with great fervor. In today’s times when you’ve access to the entire world’s content at a palm’s distance, you’re not expecting a desi slapstick to be this hilarious. If you’re looking for some intelligent or high-end comedy, this surely isn’t for you. But for the rest, this is indeed a Must Watch. This family comedy is a light-hearted, entertaining watch that will undoubtedly make you laugh out loud. My View on this web-series Highly Recommended.
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