'Hasmukh' review: Aspiring comedian played by Vir Das, show fails to impress the audience

Hasmukh is an amalgamation of dark comedy and drama which portrays life of a small town comic Hasmukh who aspires to be a comedian but has terrible delivery skills. Set in Saharanpur and later in Mumbai, show stars Vir Das as Hasmukh, Ranvir Shorey as Jimmy and Ravi Kishan, Maj Pahwa, Raza Murad and Suhail Nayyar in supporting roles. Directed by Nikhil Gonsalves and written by Nikhil Advani, Vir Das, series can be streamed on Netflix.

Plot

show follows story of Hasmukh who is an understudy of Maj Pahwa, a decently popular comedian who promises to let Hasmukh deliver his content in front of people. But seeing his poor delivery skills, he goes back on his words, filling Hasmukh with r which led to Hasmukh murdering him. Somehow Hasmukh is filled with confidence after that and goes on to present a stand-up in front of audience like thing had happened.

Amazed by response from audience, Hasmukh falls under impression that murder helped his stand-up. This went on for a while and word about his comedy spread like fire, so much so that a company hired him. w Hasmukh with his friend, Jimmy starts killing people before every stand-up in order to make his shows a success.

In his defence, he only targeted ‘bad people’ in society which included, a corrupt PA, a greedy lawyer, a girlfriend-beater, a rapist superstar. Though murders continue, Hansmukh is seen becoming more humane with each murder. Despite everything, he is so enticed by lifestyle of a ‘famous comedian’ that with each murder it becomes more like a mechanical job for him.

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What Works?

acting of actors in series is  only saving grace. Ranvir Shorey, who has portrayed character of Hansmukh's partner in crime is a delight to watch as his eyes lit up when presented with a fat cheque and well up when accused of being disloyal. actor seems to be in touch with his character. Apart from that, cinematography is decent. 

What does t work?

writing of series is very weak and has a lot of loose ends. show has a rustic love me without proper character backing. jokes presented at stand-ups by Hasmukh, which is central me of show, fail to impress. Moreover, audience in show is shown applauding and cheering for Hasmukh where it did t deserve at all. At some parts, writers seemed confused wher y wanted to make ir characters deep or robotic.

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Final Thoughts

story, though has a vel concept, fails to be gripping because of weak writing of characters and plot. Vir Das, who is well kwn in entertainment industry for his comedy, disappoints when it comes to writing jokes. At some points, scenes seemed prolonged and unnecessary. A show based on ‘stand-up comedy’ fails to make anyone laugh as jokes are lame and of substandard. Overall, show can be avoided.

Rating 2/5

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Im Credits: Vir Das Instagram