Four Years Later shines in various moments that instantly resonate with you, thanks to Shahana Goswami, observes Divya Nair.
We all can agree that love can get complicated, maybe even unreasonable.
But then, how much is too much to give?
And how far is so far that you eventually lose yourself?
In the Web series Four Years Later, an India-born Australian writer/creator introduces us to an unsuspecting meet-cute love in a typical Indian arranged marriage set-up.
Sridevi (Shahana Goswami) plays a modern bride, blinded by love, who walks into a joint family led by her doctor husband Yash Agarwal's (Akshay Ajit Singh) strict parents-in-law.
She doesn't complain, but there are too many red flags.
Yash's conservative, controlling and interfering parents define the stereotype that the majority of Indian brides have to deal with, especially in the first few years of marriage.
Even before the bride's henna has faded, the patriarch expects his son to travel to Australia to complete his higher education.
The bait? The prospects of a better life for his sisters!
The condition? He will travel alone, leaving his wife behind.
It is depressing enough that the couple doesn't have privacy in their home. Now, they have to deal with the stress of a long-distance relationship.
Imagine speaking to your faraway husband over a Skype call, surrounded by nosy family members.
Four Years Later rushes through the dexterity of emotions, spanning eight episodes, each 25 minutes long, as it tries to capture the strength and vulnerability of the young couple. Yash describes Sridevi as the tiger -- fierce and powerful. She imagines herself as the tiger, too, but trapped in a zoo.
Sridevi loves Yash for his innocence and compassion, and soon realises that it is this vulnerability that also distances them from each other.
Through various episodes of their marriage, you will realise that each of them wants the same thing, yet in different measures, often in a different setting.
How do you define this kind of love that draws you close in a magnetic, passionate way, yet suffocates you in its mundane, unreasonable promises?
Intimate, yes, but toxic too.
Romantic, yes, but what about the greys?
There are no rights and wrongs, as there are no perfect endings.
The choices we make have consequences.
In between the quiet unravels, surrenders, and sacrifices, Four Years Later trains you to accept the parallel transformational journeys of two beautiful souls united by marriage who meet mid-way but are separated by their own dreams and choices.
Shahana Goswami is honest in her portrayal of Sridevi. She's fierce, and enterprising, an empowered woman who knows her mind until she is betrayed by her heart.
When she cooks him his favourite maa ki daal with hing ka choka, she is a woman blinded by selfless love.
A few minutes later, when she is scorned, she simply gets off a bus, peels off her sari, and dives straight into the ocean.
There is a sense of unbridled joy, sort of like a liberation. Shahana steals your attention in these raw, rebellious moments of self-discovery and love.
Unfortunately, Yash (Akshay), who also goes through an equally compelling range of emotions and self-awareness, doesn't match his co-star's energy. Nor does he make you feel sorry for his conflicting role as the obedient son and progressive husband.
The restraint is maybe deliberate, to highlight the story from a female point of view.
There are plenty of intimate scenes -- a casual warning, in case you are planning to watch it with your parents or teens at home.
To sum up, neither the story nor the setting is new.
There is nothing ground-breaking that we don't already know.
Yet, the series shines in various moments that instantly resonate with you, thanks to Shahana, who breathes life and depth into the gentle and unyielding Sridevi.
When she charms you with her dignified resilience, she makes you realise why she is the backbone of the film and the family.
Four Years Later streams on Lionsgate Play.
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