Celebrated director Cheran debuts his first web series with an ensemble cast including R Sarathkumar, Prasanna, Aari Arujunan, Kalaiyarasan, Divyabharathi, Kashyap Barbhaya, Jayaprakash, Jasmine Metivier, Anupama, Ilavarasu, Naren, Anju Kurian, Vela Ramamoorthi, Bharani and others. The series has 9 episodes, each with a runtime of around 40 minutes.
Cheran’s Journey is a story about five prospective employees of a big corporation and their life stories that have taken them to that situation. The series delves into various social issues that plague our nation and the people while making us wonder who deserves the position over the other.
This 9-episode series, in lieu of a high-paying job, leaves no stone unturned to give us several episodes full of life lessons and heartwrenching tales of struggle and perseverance. While some do touch your heart with their rather emotional note others feel forced and rather weird and leave you feeling confused about their necessity. As with most shows of this nature, there are moments here that are truly worth watching because the idea behind it is quite interesting. The reliability of these stories is also another reason to look forward to every development, some more than others.
The current social and political climate makes these stories extremely important and necessary. The unfair situations which people find themselves in are not only heartbreaking, they sometimes feel infuriating. At some point, I couldn’t help but feel extremely heartbroken for Ameer’s rather shitty life and felt that he needed to catch a break for a minute. In contrast, some other stories felt inspirational, while others felt preachy. There were some hopeful moments as well in the mix.
However, one thing that really bugged me throughout the runtime of the web series is how bad the acting gets sometimes. There are several stories spanning multiple episodes where almost everyone on-screen looks stiff and unnatural as if reading off a script without emotion. It’s jarring to watch, and that’s something that episode 3 is more prominently at fault. Apart from the fact that the story itself was extremely convoluted, I did not understand the people’s motivations and neither their horrendous acting. There are moments when you might find yourself slack-jawed, unable to understand why any of this is happening. Although I get the motivation behind it, it’s just not done well enough to be believable.
This takes us to the fact that the series, overall, is too preachy, especially for audiences who prefer to not have scene after scene full of dialogue, which breaks down everything down to its last atom. Regardless of the motivation, it’s a tiring watch, and with 9 long episodes, each with a runtime of 40+ minutes sometimes, it tests your patience even with its most relatable and watchable story. You need to let your audience come to some conclusions because, at the end of the day, it’s these people who are slogging in their everyday lives; we don’t need this much handholding to understand the issues.
With the acting issues and the lengthy tangents that the story goes down, the pacing becomes inconsistent and unbearable sometimes. Your patience will be thoroughly tested more than a few times throughout, although it surprisingly does make you wonder who will get the job in the end.
Cheran’s Journey Review: Conclusion
In conclusion, for fans of the director, this might be a decent watch. However, if you were thinking of watching something light and entertaining, this isn’t it. It’s like being transported to when you were a child, and your teacher had to break every lesson down in order to make you understand the simplest things. But unfortunately, it’s an insulting route to take as an adult. That being said, some of the stories are relatable and entertaining, and I couldn’t help but wonder who would be chosen at the end. Because, let’s be honest, landing a job is hardly ever requires an extended emotional backstory!
The series is streaming on SonyLIV.
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