Saba Azad’s Dr Vidushi Kothari likes to see herself as a ‘doctorpreneur’, which is to say that she isn’t in the business of healing women of their health problems just for the Nobel prize. Some money doesn’t hurt.
This bohemian ideology seems to define the series itself: yes, it is meant to shed light on what was once known as ‘gupt gyan’ (gynaecology), but it wants the endeavour to be viewer-friendly. The new season of ‘Who’s Your Gynac?’ on Amazon’s MX Player, produced by The Viral Fever and Girliyapa, succeeds in doing that without any major mishap.
Not that Dr Vidushi Kothari’s journey is without its bumps. Some of the characters, like the monkeyish Mehr (Aaron Arjun Koul), seem too conveniently designed to be goofy and grin-inducing, as though the series is carefully weighing its infotainment options.
Interestingly, if Vidushi is a gynaecologist, her love interest Arth (Kunal Thakur) is a paediatrician… Get it? Well, the chap spells it out: “You deliver the babies and I will look after them.”
Some amount of overstatement constantly marks the otherwise zany ecosystem of this ably, but unevenly, written series. Vidhushi’s girl pal, Dr Swara Iyer Jain (Karishma Singh), is shown to suffer from post-partum depression in the initial phase of the series. But she is normal from the third episode, as though the writers just got tired of her whining and complaining.
Yeah, sure, it could have been better. But Season 2 holds our interest without stretching out too far into the abyss of its theme. I especially liked the interactive synergy between Vidushi and her office nurse Violet (Vibha Chibber, excellent as always). The core of the content resides in this relationship: it is fine to be that rare specimen known as a ‘Dedicated Doctor’ but there are bills to pay.
Maybe an entire season on the wonderfully reined-in relationship between these two interesting women?
Not so effulgent is the bond between Vidushi and the house help ‘Sangeeta Didi’ (Adithi Kalkunte), which seems patronising (something like what Shabana Azmi’s rapport with Rohini Hattangadi would be in ‘Arth’ if the women were poseurs), if not in intent, then in tone.
Director Himali Shah and her team of writers (six have been credited for this season!) could have exercised a tighter control over the proceedings, especially towards the finale when the crisscross of casual crises hits a blind spot.
And Vidhushi’s conclusive life lesson — it’s okay to seek help from loved ones — feels like a convenient cop-out.
Oh yes, there is promise
of another season. And I do not mind.
