Nakul (Gulshan Deviah), a suicidal 30-something aspiring writer from Mumbai, has attempted to kill himself 11 times, but has remained unsuccessful so far. With failed love affairs, numerous job losses, strained relationship with family—Nakul considers himself to be the ultimate loser and wants to end his life. Publishers are not willing to read his stories further establishing his worthlessness and low self-esteem. In fact, every time he tries to end his life, someone else dies, mostly those who try to save him. This has further strengthened his resolve to commit suicide.
His therapist (Anjali Patil) tries to talk sense into him, reminds him of his survival instincts that kick in the last minute, making all his suicide attempts unsuccessful so far. But a determined-to-die Nakul stumbles upon an agency that helps people commit suicide. He hands them money to assist his killing and a series of hilarious events ensue. Simultaneously, in the snow-capped mountains of Uttarakhand, 12 monks are murdered and the 13th monk from the temple has allegedly fled with amrit (the elixir of life) that finds its mention in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. A cat-and-mouse chase follows and the monk ends up meeting Nakul, who he believes, is chiranjeevi (the immortal man).
A scientist from London, who has been researching on immortality, lays a trap to capture this monk and Nakul in order to get access to the elixir and make immortality accessible to mankind. The show brilliantly captures these three absurd yet funny storylines with dark humour and the performances are to savour. Tom Alter’s son, Jamie Alter’s debut is perhaps the highlight of Afsos but Deviah steals the show with his defeatist character. Deviah is one of those underrated actors who seamlessly fit into all the roles they play be it the sex addict Mandar Pokshe in Hunterr (2015), family bully Nandan Bakshi in Death in a Gunj (2016) or Karate Mani in Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (2018).
Anjali Patil, Heeba Shah and Aakash Dahiya as supporting characters add much needed dramatic layers to Afsos. What might seem like a absurdist comedy, especially given that the show’s creators are standup comics, is actually an adaptation of a Bengali novel, Golper Gorur Chaande. The show retains the absurdist and nonsensical humour genre that can be found in Bengali literature especially in works of Sukumar Ray who was Bengal’s answer to Lewis Caroll. The backdrop of Mumbai, which is known for its realism and everyday struggle, makes the show seem a little implausible at times, but the humour makes the eight episodes a breezy yet engaging watch.
AFSOS
Platform: Amazon
Created by: Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee
Genre: Dark Comedy