Wait and watch!
So far looking realistic, Ek Mutthi Aasmaan will have to maintain its balance in story and characters!
Ek Mutthi Aasmaan
Time: Monday to Friday at 7 pm on Zee TV.
Producer: Tony Singh, Deeya Singh
Director: Imtiaz Punjabi
Story: Satyam Tripathi
Cast: Shilpa Shirodkar, Ashish Nayyar, Mohit Dagga, Tuhinaa Vohra
The story so far –
The story revolves around Kamlabai (Shilpa Shirodkar) and her husband Vitthal (Mohit Dagga) who stay in a chawl with their school going son. While Vitthal is an out of work mill worker who has been not doing much since the past 10 months since his mill has closed down, Kamlabai is trying to make ends meet by working as a lady conductor in a school bus. She quits her job when she enters her 7th month of pregnancy but decides to take up another job as a maid since she needs money. She has high ambitions for both her kids and while her husband shares her dreams wonders whether they will be able to fulfill all their dreams.
Kamlabai takes up the new job in the home of the same person, Sahil Kapoor (Ashish Nayyar) who has also bought Singhania Mills where Vitthal has been working. His wife Neetu (Tuhina Vohra) too is heavily pregnant and expecting a baby any moment. Even as Kamlabai’s husband leads an agitation along with fellow mill workers who storm the building, Neetu goes into labor and Kamlabai takes her to the hospital and gets her admitted there.
Amidst all the tension, even Kamlabai starts getting labor pains but leaves the hospital and reaches home where she delivers a baby girl. At the hospital Neetu too delivers a baby girl and when Vitthal goes to the hospital to share the good news he finds out that his wife Kamla is actually working for the man who has bought the mill.
The next day one of his neighbor tells this to all the residents of the chawl who are shocked and surprised at the revelation.
What works –
The portrayal of the story with a Marathi background looks authentic. Normally we have stories about the husband of themaid being a wife beater but here we see that the couple are very much in love and take care of each other’s feelings. The set which includes the chawl and the inside of the room where Kamlabai stays is realistic. The clothes of the characters too gel with the look for each character.
Shilpa Shirodkar, who makes her comeback to showbiz with this daily was once known for her Bollywood films. Married and settled abroad for a long time she was a content homemaker and mother to a 10 year daughter in real life. Her patient demeanor as a wife and mother for the show must be from her own real life experience of handling situations.
Mohit Dagga who plays her husband too looks apt for the role. Soft and stern as the scene demands he adds punch to the scenes. The casting by Neha Pandey needs a mention as the father-son duo of Mohit and his son looks perfect.
Moments we like-
As said earlier, the husband-wife chemistry looks good, him getting a gajra for her, making bed tea and even feeding her food, winking at her while dancing in the crowd – there are many such caring moments between the couple. The mother-son bonding moments too are good, while the scene where Vitthal confronts Sahil Kapoor in the hospital is intense.
What doesn’t work-
While the story is moving at a fast pace, the overall pace comes across as very slow. Shilpa Shirodkar is ever smiling and looks happy and content in life but her mannerisms are too slow. Furthermore, her character is too preachy and admonishing all the time. It is too much of a co-incidence that Kamla ends up working as a maid in the house of the man who has bought the mill!
It looks like just to highlight the pathos of a maid’s life the show has the rich madam who is typical – she is haughty, rude and taunts the maid whereas we all have some time or the other also experienced maids who take advantage of the situation and give everybody a real bad time!
Bloopers-
In the first episode itself how does Kamlabai know the name of the driver in Neetu’s house? They both have seen each other for the first time and yet she addresses him by his name!
At the hospital the doctor tells Sahil Kapoor that Neetu needs to get operated on to get the baby out but after a long wait the nurse comes out and says that the baby has got stuck. If it is an operation it doesn’t matter if the baby is stuck, right?
Kamlabai delivers her baby in the 7th month of pregnancy at her home without the assistance of any doctor or nurse. Babies born in the 7th month are pre-mature births and are supposed to be kept in extra special care since they are most of the times in a critical condition but here the baby is not only born at home but is seen looking big and bright unlike a premature baby!
Our take-
The show has started off well showing the contrast lives of the rich and the poor with both the ladies pregnant and the situations that they are into with their lives running parallel. Now that both have new born baby girls we are sure that the show will further show the disparity between their growing up days and there are all chances of this becoming another Uttaran! The main focus is sure to get lost if the show turns out to be yet another glam and glitz offering. We will just have to wait and watch as to how the story progresses and where does it lead on to later?
