How do you explain a series that you enjoyed but also did not enjoy at the same time? Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein (YKKA) hit that note for me. I found myself binging episodes like eating through a pack of cheese balls— flakey, cheesy, and oh so delicious— but plasticky and processed at the same time. For all their nutritional worth and the lack thereof, cheese balls aren’t healthy or in any way nurturing. YKKA is sort of manufactured in the same way. Great idea, spectacular product but somehow, not the healthiest choice. It helps fire the sense by feeding the need to binge watch something smart and fun but does it count as a good choice? I don’t know. I’m still in two minds.

Was it a bit of Haseen Dilruba (2021) meets Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) meets You (2018-2021)? Yes. Did I think it was smart? Also, yes.

 A love triangle leads the plot; filled with vengeance, romance, blood, gore, and retribution. Vikrant (Tahir Raj Bhasin) is advised by his father (Brijendra Kala) to seek the blessings of his boss, politician Akhiraj (Saurabh Shukla). The politician implicates himself in the life and times of Vikrant and all his near and dear ones to appease his daughter Purva (Anchal Singh), only to help her get together with Vikrant, her childhood (unrequited) crush. Purva’s the kind of go-getter who doesn’t stop short at getting people killed at the drop of the hat, for as long as she gets to be with Vikrant and make memories of a lifetime. Vikrant, on the other hand, is down bad for his college girlfriend Shikha (Shweta Tripathi) and wants a happily ever after with her that ends in a quaint house and a well-paying respectable job. None of that is in the foreseeable future as we learn that Akhiraj’s political outfit (Bhartiya Suraksha Party, nice touch) and their henchmen are all out to destroy Vikrant’s dreams and hopes unless he commits to Purva wholeheartedly.

One of my favourite moments in the series is when Vikrant’s informed that he’s going to become a trophy husband to Purva, in as many words by her dad. That, right there, sets the mood for me. An independent young man should be allowed to work, lead his life after marriage but here we see him being tied to a woman who runs a Zumba studio and he can’t be seen here as an equal. Finally, we’ve caught up with the times and this dish called revenge has been served cold and how. Jokes aside, the influence of a political party was smartly layered with the narrative of the characters and their lives, a bold move and yet a subtle one at the same time.

Smart it is, I won’t take that away from YKKA. One of the more likable qualities about the series, one that suspense/thriller in India on the web and otherwise misses out on, is that the show doesn’t skimp out on the details. Every time you feel a character is attempting something terrifying and bold, the screenplay takes care of the technicalities and the little details to make the plot look believable. Even in wild circumstances, when a hitman (Arunoday Singh) is ordered to do his job in Leh, he is taken through the possibilities of hiking without adjusting to the air pressure. Similarly, the characters in the series know just enough about Dark Web’s existence, as much an average urban Indian. The self-awareness factor in the series is high; the characters are fallible. They have to look up how to access the Dark Web, as opposed to showing the Internet Explorer leading you how to hire an assassin. From a technical standpoint, I think the writers' team deserves applause for getting things right as far as possible, perhaps one of the few examples in the country that nails things well.

However, at the same time, my frustration rose with the production and even the outfits, the make-up, and the set design. There is immense ambition when the series takes you through the lives of Vikrant, Purva, and Shikha and they occupy spaces that make you question if they belong there. Golden’s (Anant Joshi) studio/room borders on organized kitsch as opposed to an aged room filled with kitschy memorabilia from pubescent past. Similarly, Purva’s hair looks like it’s running a Dyson endorsement. I understand, your lead has to look like a femme fatale in place, but for god’s sake, see the tier two town she’s in, and maybe, don’t get inspired by Sabyasachi’s bridal aesthetic dressing her up on a daily.

In contrast, Shweta Tripathi’s outfits and make-up look like she’s been asked to bring it from home, which is fair, given her character represents a girl next door but even then, her outfits are more Biba than Lajpat Nagar. I understand you’re not trying to make your character look like Babli from the original Bunty and Babli (2005) but that fine balance in dressing the leads just missed the point. Tahir Raj Bhasin looks too good for the town, even when he’s carrying a miserable face while indulging in smut courtesy of his wife's antics. Yet again, his outfits, the way he carries them do not in any way tell me he’s from the fictional small town named Onkara. It’s not that these actors could not carry the look, but it’s rather sad to see production and costume having free reign while designing ideas for the leads and botching it this bad.

One of my big reference points of comparison here in terms of production for/on the web is also Tabbar, where there is an immense class divide between the two families and yet, the divide somehow, comes out through the production design and costumes. Similarly, in a bigger picture setting, Gangs of Wasseypur is always a golden example of nailing the costumes and taking you to a small town, same with Masaan (2015) and even Titli (2014) got the memo right. But my dude, you cannot be dressing your cast in fineries and asking me to believe that they were taken to a goddamn dam for a school picnic while living the same lives in the same town. Stories don’t add up.

I’ve probably harped more on this than anything else, but this factor for me truly brought all the clever parallels between this and Shahrukh’s villain era down. If you’re trying to pay homage, you pay homage; if you’re trying to be stylish, you be stylish. Somehow, YKKA's attempt with acting, direction and screenplay came together, while the rest of the teamwork didn’t work in tandem. There were moments where I felt exhilarated but everyone looking oh so fabulous and straight out of a niche lifestyle brand doing an Instagram campaign brought me disappointment across 8 episodes. That’s also partly Netflix’s style as a platform provider. They’ll amp up and glam the series with things that are not needed.

I’m being hard on YKKA, more than any other series because it has tremendous potential to become a worldwide hit. Joe Goldberg walked so Purva could run and catch up with Vikrant and never let him go, you get my point? It’s a great series to spend your weekend with but equally frustrating when you see the competition and the work done on other platforms where they’re acing the research on the aesthetics. You'll appreciate it with or without Covid brain fog.

The series is available for streaming on Netflix in India.

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