Permanent Roommates 3 Review: If it is from the house of TVF, it has to be heartwarming. That’s the larger notion of Indian audiences that have not only watched shows like Panchayat and Tripling, but also helped them trickle down to the Desi pop culture. Sumeet Vyas and Nidhi Singh’s cutesy-but-turbulent at times Permanent Roomates is no exception. After what feels like ages, the third season chronicling Mikesh and Tanya’s live-in adventures is finally here but does it live up to the hype and finesse of previous seasons?
The tone of the show is set in place from the opening scene itself. Mikesh is on a racy phone call with Tanya, where she seems to be describing an amorously charged situation she is in. Mikesh, with his benign but earnest advances, plays along, only to get sidetracked by his mother’s phone. As viewers, we feel that the crux of this season’s theme will mostly hover around long-distance relationships. However, that is not the case, since Tanya emerges from a different room, only to reveal that they were just roleplaying.
Both Mikesh and Tanya are in the midst of the choppy waters, that most live-in couples go through at some point. Tanya is seemingly ennuied by the same old routine life in a posh, gated society of Mumbai. Even the banters with Mikesh is perceived by her as dry. To add to her woes, her only friend in the office lands a job in Germany, which titillates her with the idea of moving abroad. As for her beau Mikesh, he only wants to make her happy, even if it means consulting Tanya’s modish father Brijmohan (played by Shishir Sharma). Resorting to one of his whacky ideas, Mikesh whimsically nods his head to Tanya’s proposal of shifting to a foreign country, a decision that he takes just moments before his mother Lata (played by Sheeba Chaddha) arrives to live with the couple. In the light of this new arrival, how will the two lovestruck individuals navigate this big step? Whether it will hinder Tanya’s dream of a cushy life in Canada or will it buy Mikesh some time to address his repressed feelings?
Permanent Roommates Season 3 has a lot of nuance, which is not out there in the first two episodes. Like every TVF show, the humour-laced dialogues often break the monotony of an otherwise serious scene. The characters avoid one-dimensionality of their existence. Even someone like Purshottam (played by Deepak Mishra) adds verve to a brilliantly-penned screenplay, whenever he comes on the screen. However, initially Permanent Roommates feels like a rehash of moments from its roster of successful shows. But that’s where it catches you off-guard.
After merely scraping through the surface, the latest season delves into a plethora of unconventional sub-plots, through which the makers are able to tap into the ‘relatability’ quotient in its viewers. One of those plots that is bound to tug at your heartstrings, quite sensitively portrays the fear and horror of a 30-something person, living far away from home, realising that their kin is getting old with every passing day. How the roles discreetly reverses when a son or a daughter starts feeling responsible towards their parents is adeptly portrayed.
Permanent Roommates doesn’t just stop there but walks you further through life’s conundrums. It delicately portrays a mother, who has to realign her life after losing her only anchor, her husband. Sheeba Chadha’s character, Lata, exudes an aura which we ourselves can feel in our own mothers. A scene that poignantly delivers that emotion is when Lata shares with Tanya, how she left for the Airport at her own leisure, and how her husband used to get worked up and would insist that they reach the premises four hours prior. It is tenuous but still strikes a chord. It also gives a glimpse into how people have different ways of coping with grief. How some people are prone to repressing it behind the garb of a cheerful and sorted visage.
Season 3 of Permanent Roommates is just filled with such motifs and moments, that might leave a lump in your throat. The story of Mikesh and Tanya has certainly come a long way, as they stride a line between maturity and retaining the childlike qualities of their relationship. Some might also recall Dhruv and Kavya from Little Things, majorly through how the characters interact with their surroundings. Shreyansh Pandey’s direction does a good job of leaving you overwhelmed but not without tickling your funny bones. While Sumeet Vyas and Nidhi Singh have stayed true to their characters with their praiseworthy performance, actors like Sheeba Chadha, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Deepak Mishra, Abhinav Nikal, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Shishir Sharma and others have made this season more memorable. Songs by Independent artists like Osho Jain and Vaibhav Bundhoo give that edge in important scenes.
To sum it up, Permanent Roommates Season 3 has more depth and character to it, compared to the previous seasons. It might make you laugh or can most possibly prove to be a tear-jerker. But the show is definitely more than a normal couple, co-existing in a single house. It’s thoughtful and mature in its layers, without compromising with the quintessential ‘entertainment’ factor of a standard TVF show.
