But the makers decided to put an abrupt end to the girls’ woes as they promptly made arrangements for the three to land up doing odd jobs at the house of a reputed lawyer, Kunal Mehra’s house. Ab aage. While we liked the show in bits, especially when the three come face-to-face with the slum/beggars’ lives, the initial impact has now been diluted with the entry of a love interest for Shyamolee and Kunal Mehra’s glamorous bhabhi.
The makers seem to have been inspired by Bhandarkar’s Traffic Signal though we wish they had shown more of the hard life. It would have been interesting to see the three girls rough it out on Mumbai’s mean streets considering Pakya had spouted many lines describing the ‘heartless Mumbai’. Rather, the three girls are now having it easy at a huge mansion. Their struggle was fast forwarded and the show is slowly getting into the cardboard set mode. More than the performances, the writers-directors have focused on dramatic dialogues like the one that comes to mind is when Pakya tells one of his cronies, why he chose the three girls for begging. He says the youngest one has innocence written all over her face, so people would shower her with alms, the eldest Kanchan is khuddar and the second one is suitably arrogant so anyone who wants to crush her guroor will happily give her alms. Of course, much is lost in the English translation but you get the drift though we never knew, such a long thought out process goes behind ‘casting’ beggars.
The role of Shyamolee is key. She is the protagonist. She has vowed not to go back to her hometown till she has made it in Mumbai but the girl cast in the role does not have the adequate chutzpah. Her light eyes, flared nostrils and poker straight hair, doesn’t make her a go-getter. Something seems to be missing. Her dialogue delivery and diction too leaves a lot to be desired. Also, when they were shown begging on the streets, not once was their hair out of place, or a bead of sweat on their foreheads or a crease in their perfectly ironed salwar kameez, crushed skirt and Lucknawi kurta. These little details could have made a difference to the so-called ‘realistic’ portrayal but we guess, on television you can’t show the dirt and grime after a certain point. Viewers seem to have been lulled into watching shiny sarees, blinding jewellery and glossy sets.
Verdict:
Baytaab… should have been a rags- to-riches story of Shyamolee. Here’s hoping it stays that way and not lose itself into an inane love story or a directionless drama. Watch it if there is nothing better elsewhere.
