Dupahiya

But writers Chirag Garg and Avinash Dwivedi show no rush in solving the mystery around the stolen motorbike, disappointing us in parts with the weakened pace. One particularly icky sequence involving a gangster and his pet owl could have been chopped, and the show would have remained as pleasant.

The messages about dowry eradication or bias against dark complexioned girls are gently eased in. Actors like Gajraj Rao, Yashpal Sharma, Renuka Shahane, Bhuvan Arora and Sparsh Srivastava make Dupahiya watchable, but the lesser known actors fit right in too.

Perhaps Dupahiya could have harnessed Rao’s lurking nastiness to lend itself some zing. Built around a stolen motorcycle in a village, this is a ‘Panchayat’ lite, a sweet, soporific series that passes the time, exceedingly flaky and forgettable. Director Sonam Nair, who made the charmingly zany short film Khujli once upon a time, is decidedly out of her depth in the rural setting. The writing (by Chirag Garg and Avinash Dwivedi) is vacant and amateurish, the texture crumbly and second-hand. The oddball cast exhausts its whimsy in the first three episodes; indulged for six more, they verge on annoying.