Chemistry Mashi Review: Debasree Roy Series is Surprisingly Tense

– No Spoilers –

Sucharita, a middle-aged homemaker, finds a new purpose in life when she starts a chemistry class online. She goes viral as Chemistry Mashi, someone who breaks down the subject in an easy-to-understand manner for the masses. However, her popularity spells trouble for the coaching classes who face competition from her free tuition and soon, she finds herself fighting against societal corruption that has vowed to tear her down.

Chemistry Mashi discusses a lot of societal issues including the business of education in our society, especially in West Bengal, the different relationships shared among people, rediscovering yourself and the implications of the choices that we make. The series is a delicate exploration of people that is relatable in a sense, with sweet people with shades of grey. No one is perfectly good or bad, although Mohit Agarwal is a cliche that could’ve been written better.

Either way, there’s a sense of understanding and believability in this social drama and the series’ characters are normal people with ups and downs in their lives. The professional and the personal move together simultaneously and one influences and shapes the other. As you watch the personal take shape, it makes the professional more easy to get behind and you root for Sucharita’s vision and hustle even more.

Of course, Sucharita is our protagonist and her calm but headstrong personality is something that we are made aware of from the beginning. As the series goes on, we see more nuances in her character that just make her even more likeable and a person we can truly love and admire. There’s something inspiring about her that you can’t ignore. The other characters are likeable as well, although Shankar Chakraborty’s Sushavan can get a bit annoying at first but soon turns his character around as well. Sucharita’s children are great as well and a beacon of understanding and open-mindedness.

The idea of independence and finding oneself is strong and Sucharita’s headstrong attitude can be inspirational to many. The freedom to do what we want, especially in an ever-growing world that allows one to find oneself easily is a noble and thought-provoking topic that is very sweet to watch – kind of reminds me of English Vinglish, in a way. On the other hand, Ritwika Pal’s struggles are relatable in a different sense of the term although I did wonder why, among such vast struggles, we also half-heartedly introduce this important topic as well.

I must say, however, that the series moves at break-neck speeds. With only six episodes, the topic is too big and the time is quite short. That isn’t technically a bad thing but the series isn’t able to cover everything well enough to make the issues stick. Although there’s tension and intrigue in the series, when we quickly barrel towards the end, you realise things might not get solved when we reach the last few minutes.

The ending is what really goes off the rails as an emotional push to make an impact gets a bit too hot and heavy. We move from personal problems to professional ones and eventually end up at such a huge impasse that feels a bit forced. Of course, as mentioned previously, we end on a cliffhanger that introduces more (unnecessary) questions and answers nothing so if you thought you were getting any exhilaration from getting a win, sorry, that’s not happening.

Chemistry Mashi Review: Conclusion

Debasree Roy’s social drama series is a tense and interesting watch that keeps us intrigued till the end. There are a lot of topics that are relevant to our fast-growing world where education is nothing but an avenue to make money while pushing children towards horrible mental health issues. The 6-episode series is short and sweet and will be a welcome watch for those who aren’t interested in love and relationships but beware, as with every Hoichoi show these days, there are no answers and more stupid questions that the series asks unnecessarily to string us along to the next season.

Chemistry Mashi is streaming on Hoichoi.

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