The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh Review: Absolutely Hilarious

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh is a comedy series on Amazon Prime Video that showcases the lives of the Pradeep family after they move from India to America. With hopes and dreams in their eyes, the family tries their best to adjust to the new lifestyle changes but, as showcased through their hilariously conflicting flashbacks, we learn that interactions with their polar-opposite neighbours have surprising consequences for all of their lives!

The series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes.

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh Review

In The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, we follow an over-the-top Indian family who are getting interrogated after their neighbour’s house burns down. Locked in a feud with them for quite some time, we watch as they recount their lives in America and how the feud started while understanding the dynamics between the different members of the typical dysfunctional Indian family.

The insanity of the Pradeeps will be relatable to many as most Indian families function this way, with all the added spice and glitter that one witnesses in this series. From the moment the series starts, one can imagine what lies in store for them as the Pradeeps get right into hilariously exaggerated rants and accusations, things that are extremely typical in a desi household. The over-the-top nature of the conversations between the Pradeeps, the Mills and the police are absolutely hilarious and the flashbacks more so, leaving us to roar with laughter at the absurdity of it all.

Of course, it’s the exaggerations that make it so deliciously unhinged. The characters, played to perfection by the actors, are both relatable and insane, making for an entertaining and thoroughly watchable debacle. With a whodunit to leave us questioning in the midst, the real entertainment is the comedy that makes you question your sanity while also making you fondly nostalgic. The series also discusses the different issues that immigrants face in other countries, both from external sources and from within, leaving us to watch these people deal with these various problems in their own ways and as a family.

Sindhu Vee as Sudha Pradeep is fantastic and was my favourite part of the series. A little kooky, very warm and fiercely protective of her family while also trying to keep her individuality intact in a foreign land, we watch her struggle to keep it all together as others around her start to fall apart from the beginning. Although her methods might seem to be a bit much, let’s not forget our own desi parents who have tried to control their children’s lives at every point, hiding behind the curtain of taking care of us. It’s relatable, it’s hilarious and it’s so insane.

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The other characters are delightfully unhinged as well. Naveen Andrews as Mahesh Pradeep is every dad other there – goofy and a little aloof, constantly striving to do good by his family and listening to his wife with an open heart. He is sweet and funny and is an embodiment of the naive Indian father that we have come to see in comedy shows. However, there are layers to his character and his chemistry with Sudha is warm and fuzzy, reminding us of our parents in more ways than one. The kids, on the other hand, are the bane and the boon of Sudha and Mahesh’s existence and all three of them play that part extremely well.

Final Thoughts

In the end, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh is hilarious, relatable and thoroughly unhinged, leaving us smiling for most of its runtime. The humour and the emotions go together extremely well, and the short runtime packages it all up in a short and sweet burst of energy and entertainment. The fantastic performances are another win and will leave you cackling more often than not. Although, I must say that I wish we weren’t left off on a cliffhanger and didn’t get the twist that we did, but hopefully the next season does a great job once again to put all of this new information into a cohesive story that leaves us laughing once more.

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