Life Hill Gayi is an “un”-trendily wholesome show on web

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The premise is amusing: Prithvi (Kabir Bedi) tempts his heirs and grandchildren, Dev (Divyenndu) and Kalki (Kusha Kapila), busy in their own work, with getting his entire estate and assets if they (individually) manage to restore his down-in-the-dumps hotel in a hill resort and get it going. His son, Himalaya (Vinay Pathak), father to Dev and Kalki, has always been annoyed with him, and is again upset as his children will be pitted against each other. Granddad is in touch with them only on the screen through a Zoom video.

With great determination (though a lot of reluctance is there as well for obvious reasons!), the two begin their respective tasks allotted to them by Prithvi. In come a bunch of crazy characters—beginning with Prithvi’s loyalist, Kripal (Atul Shrivastava), the hotel manager who arranges the video calls, his resolute daughter, Hima (Mukti Mohan) and the whacky staffers: receptionist Sushama (Annpurna Soni), the chef, Negi (Hemant Pandey), housekeeper Badoni (Sachin Negi) and security officer Bisht (Ishtiyal Khan). Each one is true-blue character.

The town has an irascible sarpanch (chief, played by Gyan Prakash) and the guests who latyer come in are all equally whacky, starting with a serial killer, Chammach Chalisi (Shashie Verma). Also coming in, just as Dev and Hima are establishing their romance, is Dev’s ex, Shreya (Meenal Sahu) who almost puts a spanner in their works.

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The one-upmanship between bro and sis continues, even as Himalaya and Kripal renew their childhood friendship and there are confessions and abuses (not to be confused with expletives!) galore. The crazy happenings within the hotel (like ear-buds whose one side has been already used being kept for guests!) and outside (like the leopard fiasco or the loony pre-wedding and wedding events at the sarpanch’s daughter’s wedding banns and the final twist from grandfather all culminate in decent entertainment.

The script is most “un”-trendy, in the sense that we do not have any F*** and worse words and no needless skin shows! And so it is wholesome, feel-good and riveting in most parts, and there will be audiences that therefore find the goings-on a shade dull.

The performances help—I loved Kusha Kapila as the earnest Kalki, Annapurna Soni as the scatterbrained Sushama and Sachin Negi as Badoni in particular. Mukti Mohan makes a mark as the determined Hima and so does Atul Shrivastava as her businesslike and likeable dad. Besides, we cannot expect anything other than consummate performances from Divyenndu Sharma and Vinay Pathak and they do not disappoint. Shashie Verma as the would-be killer is a scream.

Watch this one for its sheer wholesomeness. And a lot of sparkling dialogues that raise many an ordinary scene or sequence. Never mind the pernicious ad blitz that comes in at intervals from D+H, this OTT platform, including where Shah Rukh Khan tells us the reason why he “smells” good. Yuck!

Rating: ***

Disney+Hotstar presents Himshrri Films’ Life Hill Gayi  Produced by: Aarushi Nishank  Directed by: Prem Mistry  Written by: Jasmeet Singh Bhatia, Suprith Kundar, Akshendra Mishra & Shakir Ali  Music: Abhijit Vaghani  Starring: Divyenndu Sharma, Kusha Kapila, Mukti Mohan, Kabir Bedi, Vinay Pathak, Annapurna Soni, Atul Srivastava, Ishtiyak Khan, Hemant Pandey, Gyan Prakash, Sachin Negi, Shashie Verma, Sp. App.: Meenal Sahu, Aditi Govitriker & Bhagyashree & others