The story
Sima Taparia is Mumbai's top matchmaker, with a cure to modern loneliness — her immaculate matchmaking skills guide elitist clients in the US and urban India to a 'perfect partner', in a tailor-made arranged marriage set-up. For the better or worse, the show mirrors real struggles, insecurities and inane tendencies of young, single adults in India, while giving an incisive peek into the questionable practice in today's age.
Review
Let’s be honest: India loves to hate-watch some shows so bad, that they begin to feel good. Indian Matchmaking – a Netflix Original – falls within the ambit of this peculiar observation.
As much as millennials and Netflix loyalists ranted over the 'regressive' ways of Sima Taparia and her ideology of a good marriage, that is, 'adjustment and compromise', the show climbed up the ranks on the list of top shows in an unbelievably short span of time.
Reason? It’s eerily relatable, mirrors our obsession with labels and our deep-seated faith in cupid, or “matchmakers” for that matter.
The show introduces you to 'Sima aunty', who, besides being the reigning poster girl of memes and trolls, seems like the last resort for indecisive young men and women that have little in common, except for a yearning for a happily ever after with the 'right' person. Sima isn’t different from your stereotypical neighbourhood aunty. Except that she probably knows her worth and the her wealthy clients' desperation. Client who are eagerly on the lookout for an interesting add-on to their successful, but hollow existence.
Barf alert: Sima triggers humour and angst at one go, just as she voices her honest perspectives for promising suitors, that’ll get you to question a lot of things, we promise.
Whether it’s Naadia’s unbridled vibe teamed with some fresh eagerness that instantly makes one connect with her, Delhi girl Ankita’s way of being, Pradhyuman’s “superficiality” or the fiercely independent Aparna’s seemingly picky ways — Sima out rightly claims that women who aren’t too flexible send out a repelling energy, which in turn makes the process of finding the 'right' guy a lot harder — the show portrays the grim reality of finding someone worthwhile and the effort that actually go into finding some you want to consider spending the rest of your life with.
The first season of the show is split into eight moderately long episodes that don’t really manage to capture the same intensity all through. This is largely because many narratives are scattered and lop-sided, and ends rather abruptly.
You probably would want to give brownie points for the immaculate cinematography, as the visuals are nothing short of speculator and offers a surreal vibe of the cityscape of Delhi, Mumbai and America. The show might evoke twinges of envy among watchers who’d wish they had the spate of options these successful bachelors do.
Peppered with a streak of regressiveness and teamed with the concept of meeting new people; the show fails to pack a punch or rather sustain the intrigue that it first arouses. The trinkets of wisdom by old couples that pop at the start of an episode are amusing, to say the least.
Case in point: The show touches a part of our reality, that we often tend to put on the backburner: Loneliness. The yearning for someone worthwhile to spend our lives with, failing which everything eventually loses its purpose. As much as urban India loves its space, there is always room for love, even if its arranged.
C’mon, you want a matchmaker too, don’t you? --Review by Pooja Prabbhan
Show: Indian Matchmaking
Cast: Sima Taparia, various others
Platform: Netflix
Rating: 3/5
