Yeh Meri Family Review - A Perfectly Delightful, Emotional & Nostalgic Family Drama From The 90s

Mandar Kurundkar's Yeh Meri Family, starring Juhi Parmar, Rajesh Kumar, Hetal Gada, and Anngad Maaholay, is here on MiniTV to take you back to the 90s. The series is a perfect recall of the 90s humour we are missing in today's comedies or family comedy dramas. It's far away from the vulgarity and cheap jokes from all those Gujju shows released recently—I don't want to waste my words on mentioning the names, as I feel they aren't worth it. Yeh Meri Family is a beautifully written, well-crafted, emotionally powerful series with the much-needed humour of the gone days, which are known as the golden days of our lives. The 90s kids (I am one of them) can relate to it, but the 70s kids can also find themselves in adult roles as they have passed that time way before us. This winter season story will give you a much-needed breath of fresh and cool air in the hot summer.Yeh Meri Family is a 5-episode series set in a winter in the 90s (the specific year is not mentioned, and it does not even matter). It's a story of the Awasthi family, who remind you of a typical, well-settled, middle-class family, rooted in their traditions and bonds. Sanjay Awasthi (Rajesh Kumar), an engineer, is the head of the family. His wife, Neerja Awasthi (Juhi Parmar), is a schoolteacher, and they have two children: a teenage girl, Ritika (Hetal Gada), and a 10-year-old son, Rishi (Anngad Maaholay). Just like most of our middle-class families, they have the same issues, the same strength, the same bond, and the same mindset. Yeh Meri Family explores five different stories in five episodes, each trying to tackle a different problem, but ending up with one solution: family!The first episode is about Ritika's privacy, as she wants to go on a night out with her girlfriend and do all those things that her parents don't allow. However, her plans are spoiled by her dadi's (Veena Mehta's) arrival, who happens to drop in her room to destroy her privacy. Ep. 1 ends with a sentimental message about the young generation getting friendly with their grandparents. The next episodes follow different stories such as Ritika's crush, study pressure, teenage molestation, and, at last, their achievements. It's so sweet as a story that every story and its conclusion lead you to lots of forgotten memories you had with your siblings, granny, mummy, papa, teachers, and neighbour friends. There are many scenes that are meant to make you emotional. My favourites are Ritika's newly formed bond with her grandmother, her knowing her father's worried side, her conversation with her mother about things that weren't discussed, and then there were so many with her younger brother, with whom she fought too much. That's the real fun here.Talking about performances, I remember watching Hetal way back in Nagesh Kukunoor's children-oriented classic Dhanak (2014). She was so good in that film, and I can't believe she has grown so much as an actor with this one. Usually, child artists become meme material as they grow too fast in a short time (remember Hansika Motwani's transformation meme from Koi Mil Gaya to Aap Ka Suroor?), but here, Hetal didn't look that grown up despite a sufficient gap. I don't know which class her character went into, but her performance seemed immensely natural. The expressions, dialogue delivery, emotional breakdown moments—everything was unbelievably good. Anngad Maaholay played a chubby boy whose cheeks I'd like to run and kiss. And what fantastic acting he did! That cuteness and that maturity left me in awe. Rajesh Kumar's father is as natural and simple as he could be, while Juhi Parmar's improvement from daily soap frames to series is commendable. Veena Mehta's dadi will leave you in nostalgia; Jinal Jain is okay; and Sachin Jeet Singh is good too.Yeh Meri Family has been blessed with humorous dialogues that bring organic gags. "Bahut daring kar Rahi hai, thoda dho use," says Rishi to his mother about his sister. Almost everyone can relate to his lines. His gutsy gesture of saying, "Maine 2 patang kaate hai, ab me bachcha nahi raha," has a subtle meaning. That's how you turn humour into a speech. Believe me, only a few could do it. Shreyansh Pandey, Anandeshwar Dwivedi, Nikhil Sachan, and Vipul Mayank's quartet has written a script that stands the test of time and will be tough to match for others. A hidden gem—that's what we should call it. The screenplay and dialogues by Nikhil Sachan boost the high value of the fine story, so let's hail him for that. The cinematography inside the house is very nice, and the music of Nilotpal Bora has situational magic. I would have loved to explain and discuss every full scene directed by Mandar Kurundkar, but I think it's not fair to spoil the freshness for you (the viewers). I just want to take a moment, clap for him, and thank Mandar for this nostalgic, emotionally absorbing, heartwarming, and thoughtful drama on family values that we are forgetting in today's social media era. Yeh Meri Family is a must-see for families who think that they are "FAMILY!"