In SonyLIV’s latest original Sandwiched Forever, hilarity ensues when a newly married couple has to put up with staying on the same floor of a highrise that houses both their sets of parents, all thanks to an overenthusiastic broker.
Sameer (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and Naina (Aahana Kumra) have little privacy, with their parents or in-laws constantly showing up unannounced at their place.
Director Rohan Sippy has deftly mined this plot into an entertaining and totally binge-worthy 15-episode series.
Sandwiched Forever takes the nosy neighbour trope to a whole new level altogether, except that the neighbours in this case are the parents. Sameer, a freelance games developer, and Naina, a national-level badminton player, get married and move into their new home. The only hitch is that they are literally sandwiched between their respective parents. One of their neighbours are the Shastris - Sameer’s parents that have shifted from Kanpur to Mumbai, and the other are the Sarnaiks - Naina’s parents.
Like all desi parents, the Shastris and Sarnaiks too know no boundaries. They keep turning up uninvited to their children’s house and over-interfere in their lives, and this is what makes this series so very watchable.
From stocking up their kids’ house with furniture to spying on their private conversations, the parents just don’t know where to draw the line when it comes to meddling in the lives of their children.
What works really well in Sandwiched Forever is that along with the two protagonists, the characters of the parents too are very well fleshed out. All four parents have their individual quirks and that’s why they behave the way they do. It’s their antics that keep the laughs coming. Mr Shastri (Zakir Hussain) loves his plants so much that he converses with them, while his wife (Divya Seth) is a divorce lawyer. Mrs Sarnaik (Lubna Salim) is an astrology freak and her husband (Atul Kulkarni) just can’t seem to get over his days as a secret agent. The one common factor that binds this foursome together is their involvement in the lives of their children.
For the most part of the series, Sameer and Naina find themselves in several sticky situations because of the parents. As a viewer, you not only find this humorous, but you also feel low-key sorry for them.
While Sandwiched Forever is funny throughout, there are some particularly hilarious parts that stand out. These include the ones involving the ‘sex’ couch, maid and erectile dysfunction. We’re not telling you more because we don’t want to give out spoilers.
Director Rohan Sippy has extracted wonderful performances from the cast. Aahana Kumra and Kunaal Roy Kapur nicely channelise the helplessness of a married couple caught between parents and in-laws. There’s much humour to be found in all the scenes they have together. That the parents are played by seasoned actors ensures that the characters are not reduced to caricatures. Lubna Salim, Atul Kulkarni, Zakir Hussain and Divya Seth are all first-rate in their roles.
Laugh your way through this long weekend with Sandwiched Forever. There couldn’t have been a better way of celebrating Christmas.
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