Family Aaj Kal review: A delightful show with memorable characters

In today’s times, people representing nations talk about making progress and marching ahead through advancement in technology and science. While we do witness technological marvels taking place in front of our eyes, we also see a rise in hate crimes, bigotry, and cases involving discrimination and bias. In developing countries like India, these things continue to be seen prominently. ‘Family Aaj Kal’, the new show streaming on Sony LIV, addresses some of these issues through the lens of a seemingly modern family.

Meher (Apoorva Arora) is a young woman who lives with her family comprising of her father Shekhar (Nitesh Pandey), mother Sonali Sachdev (Faiza) and younger brother Sahir (Aakarshan Singh). Shekhar and Faiza had an interfaith marriage, much against the wishes of their family and are proud of the fact that they have raised their children in a modern, inclusive family. Their sense of modernity and as Meher says ‘wokeness’, is put to test when she declares that she is in love with a Gaurav (Prakhar Singh), a man who drives a cab.

The first episode, and every episode after that, starts with a shot which aims to familiarize the audience with the definition or meaning of the term ‘family’. The definition of the family keeps changing as per the theme of every episode. While the major conflict in the story revolves around Meher’s choice of partner, the family is at the center of things. As each episode unravels after another, we get to know about the kind of biases or prejudices that exist in our society. In one scene, a potential customer asks Gaurav, “abey, tum jaison ki bhi girlfriend hoti hai kya?”.

The show, through a relationship shared between two individuals, addresses a very important issue. It talks about class differences and how we engage in ‘othering’ without even realizing. The tonality of the show remains light across each of the five episodes. While the narrative is consistently engaging, you do wish, at times, that the writers had made space for some dramatic high points.

Apoorva Arora delivers a very confident performance as Meher. She brings out the vulnerability and strength of Meher effectively to the fore. Nitesh Pandey delivers an effortlessly natural performance and makes one realize the kind of void his demise has left in the entertainment industry. Sonali Sachdev shows the evolution of her character wonderfully through her robust performance. Aakarshan Singh gets some moments to shine and he makes the most of them. As Gaurav, Prakhar Singh delivers an appropriately understated performance.

‘Family Aaj Kal’ is a sweet and charming show that implores the viewers to introspect and figure out whether they suffer from prejudices which they never thought existed inside them. The show maintains a steady pace throughout its duration and is powered by some wonderful performances.