Gullak 3: Comfort in the familiar

In my review of the second season of Gullak I had hoped that the third season would be coming soon. And I am glad it’s here. The return of the Mishras—Santosh (Jameel Khan), Shanti (Geetanjali Kulkarni) and their sons Annu (Vaibhav Raj Gupta) and Aman (Harsh Mayar) —of Bhopal, along with their neighbour Sunita “Bittu ki Mummy” Rajwar and conscience keeper and sutradhar gullak (an earthen piggy bank, voice of Shivankit Singh Parihar), is like catching up again with old friends and extended family. People you know well. People who, in turn, seem to know you well enough to be able to reflect your own slice of life in theirs.

In fact, it feels that Mishras never left at all. We don’t have to make a great effort in picking up the thread from where we had left it last. It flows on spontaneously. For me the five-episode season of short, 25-40 minutes duration chapters, is like an old, favourite pair of jeans that I slip into and immediately feel at ease in.

There’s very little to add to what I have already said about the show, the authenticity and genuineness of the characters, relationships and setting, the rooted humour and sharp skirmishes. I would only be repeating myself if I say that the writing is heartfelt (creator Shreyansh Pandey, writer Durgesh Singh, director Palash Vaswani), acting is spot on and the world eminently lived in.

The middle class aangan (courtyard), the chhat (terrace), the wash basin, the half-used tube of toothpaste by the mirror, the Murphy radio, the bedsheets, the nighties, the mosquito racquet, sil-batta return along with Santosh’s continuing love for Ravish Kumar.

But the small kitchen appears to have got more organised and the even smaller bedroom has an AC that runs on 26 to save electricity with the entire family sleeping together to make the most of the cool air. What a winner of a middle-class scene to begin the new season with.

Each episode is built on quotidian business of life—be it Aman’s school admission, Santosh claiming LTA (leave travel allowance), the marriage proposal of the daughter of a friend, Aman’s disinterest in science and above all, middle class’s high regard and esteem for izzat (respect) and the terrible challenges that are thrown at it and how they get past them.

Shanti continues to question family hierarchies, male supremacy with her taunts and saves a girl from what would have turned out to be an unhappy marriage. Her nagging always comes with a larger meaning and motive involved.

The gullak as the symbol of financial vagaries stays pertinent. There is one more member, Annu, who joins the workforce but, while that ushers in a chequebook and a debit card for him, the responsibilities multiply and quandaries and predicaments don’t quite vanish. Even with an additional income of Rs 17000, ambitions, dreams and hopes have to remain realistically low. A much-desired pair of shoes must wait for another day.

In fact, the tenuousness of life gets a little more trenchant, the tone gets more sobering and sombre as one sees a close brush with loss. Just one dialogue—“Koi kisi ko kuchh bata ke nahin jaata (people depart without saying anything)”—continues to reverberate given the recent times when we all have been through the worst. It also touches a rather raw nerve, bringing us face to face with the biggest fear in our heart of hearts—the mortality of those who gave us life, our parents.

The caring, sharing, resilience makes the Mishras carry on. As do people around them who are ordinary like them. It’s all about earning people and their goodwill and support in life than just making money.

As the balance is restored and life moves on and we wonder if there would be a fourth season of the Mishras now. Familiarity, in this case, hasn’t bred contempt as yet. If at all, it has brought us closer.

The lovely web series is playing on SonyLIV.