Bhaag Beanie Bhaag

Bhaag Beanie Bhaag
Poster
GenreRomantic comedy
Created byNeel Shah
Ravi Patel
Directed byAbi Varghese
Debbie Rao
Ishaan Nair
Starring
Country of originIndia
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducersBernad S.David
Ruben Fleischer
Seher Latif
Shivani Saran
Original release
NetworkNetflix
Release4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)

Bhaag Beanie Bhaag is an Indian romantic comedy series featuring Swara Bhasker in the lead role.[1] Directed by Abi Varghese, Debbie Rao and Ishaan Nair, it has Mona Ambegaonkar, Girish Kulkarni, stand-up comedians Varun Thakur and Ravi Patel in supporting roles. The direction of Ishaan Nair was critically panned and faced heavy criticism. It was released on Netflix on 4 December 2020.[2]

Premise

Facing disapproving parents, a knotty love life and her own inner critic, an aspiring comic ditches her cushy but unsatisfying life to pursue stand-up comedy.

Cast

  • Swara Bhaskar as Bindhya "Beanie" Bhatnagar
  • Varun Thakur as Arun, Beanie's boyfriend
  • Ravi Patel, playing a fictionalised version of himself
  • Mona Ambegaonkar as Shruti Bhatnagar, Beanie's mother
  • Girish Kulkarni as Vasant Bhatnagar, Beanie's father
  • Dolly Singh, as Kapi, Beanie's best friend

Episodes

No.Directed byWritten byOriginal release date [3]
1Debbie RaoNeel Shah and Ravi Patel4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
Unhappy at work and engaged to a man who doesn't understand her, aspiring stand-up comic Beanie realizes she's on the fast track to a discontented life.
2Debbie RaoNisha Karla4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
As Ravi and Kapi try to get an anxious Beanie back on stage, she deals with the reactions of her boss, parents and Arun to her big decisions.
3UnknownUnknown4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
Despite her parents' concerns, Beanie goes full throttle on her new plans, until Ravi makes her take a day off with him.
4UnknownUnknown4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
Visits with a therapist force Beanie’s parents to face ignored truths. As Beanie begins to let her guard down with Ravi, a discovery throws her off.
5UnknownUnknown4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
Reeling from recent quarrels, Beanie agrees to perform at a wedding, where she runs into some unexpected guests and gets unabashedly real on stage.
6UnknownUnknown4 December 2020 (2020-12-04)
Ahead of an exciting opportunity, Beanie considers making peace with her parents, acting on resurfaced feelings and staying true to her dreams.

Production

The show is created by Neel Shah and Ravi Patel.[4] It is directed by Abi Varghese, Debbie Rao and Ishaan Nair[2] and produced by Shivani Saran, Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad and Seher Aly Latif. The show was earlier titled as Messy and is set in Mumbai.[5]

According to Swara Bhasker, "The show is not just about comedy. It's about the journey of self-discovery of a girl who has imbibed the values that Indian society gives to girl children — which is to be obedient, to always listen to your parents and elders, and to place other people’s emotions over your own. It's a story that most girls, and especially girls from South Asia, can relate to. At same time, the parents are not villains. They are just normal people dealing with their own conditioning. It makes you hopeful that even if your parents don’t understand you today, maybe someday they will." She also revealed that she was "terrified of the standup portions".[6]

Release

The series released on 4 December 2020 on OTT media service Netflix.[1]

Reception

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV, rating it 2.5 out of 5 stars writes that "Bhaag Beanie Bhaag is Swara's show all the way. She does justice to it. The series, too thin at its core, does not complement her game effort. All the huffing and puffing the show has to do in order to keep up runs it ragged."[7] Divyanshi Sharma of India Today wrote, "It is not a laugh riot, but it sure is a breath of fresh air which will also tickle your funny bone at times... Due to its plot, comparisons with Amazon Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are inevitable. But once you become a part of Beanie’s world, all the comparisons take a backseat."[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Sharma, Sampada (19 November 2020). "Bhaag Beanie Bhaag trailer: Swara becomes desi Mrs Maisel". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Netflix Announces Premiere Date For Swara Bhasker-starrer 'Bhaag Beanie Bhaag'". News18. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  3. ^ Jhunjhunwala, Udita (4 December 2020). "'Bhaag Beanie Bhaag': Swara Bhasker runs from her humdrum life in the direction of comedy and dreams". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Bhaag Beanie Bhaag trailer: Swara Bhasker escapes mundane life to become a stand-up comic in Netflix show". Firstpost. 19 November 2020. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ^ Singh, Anvita (16 July 2020). "Swara Bhasker series Bhaag Beanie Bhaag to release on Netflix". The Indian Express. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  6. ^ "'I was terrified to perform stand-up in Bhaag beanie bhaag': Swara Bhasker". The New Indian Express. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Bhaag Beanie Bhaag Review: It's Swara Bhasker's Show All The Way". NDTV.com. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  8. ^ Sharma, Divyanshi (5 December 2020). "Bhaag Beanie Bhaag Review: Swara Bhasker's comic act will leave you with a smile". India Today. Retrieved 5 December 2020.