TVF’s ‘Bisht, Please!’ Is About Primitive Humour and Stereotypes
Nidhi Bisht fails to impress in the first episode of TVF’s much awaited drama ‘Bisht, Please!’.
Bisht, Please! has left me in shock. For the very first time, a TVF show has failed to make me laugh. Nope, there wasn’t even a chuckle, and to be honest, it doesn’t take much for me to be ROFL. The story of Nidhi Bisht’s misadventures as a ‘good girl’ in the city, is ridden with annoying stereotypes and frankly, it’s just too damn predictable.
Neetu (Nidhi Bisht) plays the central loser here, repeating TVF’s standard pattern once again. Her boyfriend Donny (Tushar Pandey) cheats, lies and steals. He also thinks she’s too ordinary for him, and dumps her in the first five minutes of the show. But Neetu believes that deep down, he loves her. Why? Because for six years she has washed his kachhas. So why shouldn’t he love her back?
It gets worse, much worse. Here’s how:
1. Twisted Logic
Previous TVF shows have been funny BECAUSE they make a ton of sense. Bisht, Please! has gaping holes when it comes to logic. Let me see if I’ve got this right- Neetu can’t afford to get dumped by Donny, her good-for-nothing live-in boyfriend, because her parents will pressurise her to get married? So her friend Soham (Amol Parashar) comes up with a plan. He tells Neetu to take Donny back into her life, so that he carries the guilt of dumping her for life. Ummm, say what? Did they both forget the part where Donny walked out and stole her purse too?
2. Small Town Girl Problems
At 28, a small town girl has only two options, Soham tells Neetu. Either marry a douche bag, or commit suicide. Wow! Donny repeatedly calls her ordinary, and his new ‘sexy’ upgrade of a girlfriend Parnika (Priyanka Karunakaran) offers her a refund for her emotions. Obviously, she’s not cool enough for a threesome in their experimental sex lives. Hang on a minute. How’s Neetu’s dad going to ‘get’ this kinky handcuff business? But finally, Neetu explodes. Then follows a monologue on what being a small town chick means- someone’s who’s NOT hot, smart and sexy. I’m not sure if I’m more angry about the pointlessness of this stereotype or the total lack of humour.
3. Jokes Kahaan Hain?
Apart from Soham’s keyboard spiel, the script struggles desperately to be funny. Neetu isn’t endearing yet, she’s just needy. But if you have a thing for small town girl jokes, then maybe this will serve as an average Friday viewing. Bisht, Please! Thode jokes toh daal na yaar script mein. Nidhi does a convincing job as Neetu and Amol aka Chitvan of TVF’s Tripling, is great as the sarcastic best friend Soham. But it pretty much ends there as far as things go in the acting department.
4. WTF is an Average Indian Girl?
Nidhi Bisht makes a total joke out of the ‘average Indian girl’ and it’s so far away from being funny that it makes my blood boil. Neetu didn’t date anyone else in her six years with Donny, not because she was desperate, but because she’s an average Indian girl. I’m having a hard time fathoming what this even means. I’m hugely disappointed because after Permanent Rommates and Tripling, I didn’t expect Bisht’s character, Neetu, to be such a doormat. Sure, it’s her creative liberty to pick a loser. But weren’t we moving away from that narrative? Bisht, Please! relies heavily on primitive humour, that was all about laughing at someone slipping on a banana peel. Are we still there?
I can’t wait for this small town girl to start “f*cking with her boyfriend’s mind” once she turns hot. Hopefully that’ll be more out of the box than the first episode of Bisht, Please!.
5. Shameless Promotion
Bisht, Please! it’s okay if you wanna be cool, but you can’t fool. The only thing I take back from the first episode of Nidhi Bisht’s new drama is the name of the sponsor. If we wanted an in-your face commercial, we would just watch TV, na?
Hopefully, the rest of the show will be as fun and messy as the show’s trailer.
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