From director Sonam Nair and writers Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg comes Dupahiya, starring Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane, Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Shrivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi, and Yashpal Sharma. Is the newest Prime Video India series worth streaming?
Opening Shot: Dupahiya opens with overhead shots of a village before parking on a sign announcing “Dhadakpur: India’s only crime free village.”
The Gist: Set in the village of Dhadakpur, an Indian utopia where no crime exists, a motorcycle that was intended for his sister Roshni’s wedding dowry goes missing in the hands of Bhugol. Dhadakpur is on the precipice of its 25-year anniversary of being crime-free, with this incident threatening to derail everything the community has worked so hard for.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The rural setting and characters feel similar to Panchayat, though it does not reach the same highs.
Our Take: Dupahiya’s premise is an intriguing one: what happens when a crime occurs in a place that has built its entire identity on being crime-less? Unfortunately, the execution doesn’t quite live up to the promise.
From a macro perspective, there’s a lack of world building that’s normally required for a premise like this, even as the story is grounded in reality. Why and how is Dhadakpur crime-free? How does the town discourage or prevent nefarious intruders, such as the one that steals the bike right out of Bhugol’s hands? How does the village even define the idea of being “crime-free”? To its detriment, Dupahiya doesn’t have answers to these questions in its first hour, clinging to the broad strokes of the idea without interrogating it.
Adding to this, many of the characters are caricatures, even in a slapstick comedy such as this. Siblings Bhugol and Roshni are so motivated by the opportunity to live a big city life, they don’t seem to have any morals when it comes to making big life decisions. This isn’t necessarily a flaw, but Sparsh Srivastava’s performance as Bhugol lays the cringe, wannabe hero styling on thick with over-the-top facial expressions and dialogue that is heavy with catch phrases. He feels like a character, and not in a good way.
The pilot ends on a promising note—with Bhugol stuck between alerting everyone about the burglary and getting in trouble for taking the motorcycle out in the first place—but unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like enough to keep tuning in.
Sex and Skin: This series is quite chaste.
Parting Shot: Immediately following the bike-jacking, a title card reveals that there are only 8 days until Roshni’s wedding—a ticking clock for Bhugol to recover the stolen motorcycle.
Sleeper Star: Gajraj Rao adds humor and heart in his limited screen time as the patriarch whose intentions are more pure than his offspring’s.
Most Pilot-y Line:: “I suggest an anti-theft alarm,” the motorcycle salesman recommends before adding, “nowadays, robbers steal the bike before the groom gets it.” But Bhugol is confident about his village. “I’m from Dhadakpur,” he says, not needing to say anything else.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Despite a promising premise, the lack of world-building and characters that rely on caricatures derail this comedy.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in New York City. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.