Crash Course (2022) review: Relevant message behind an unoriginal premise

Crash Course is a series around the rivalry between two coaching institutions and how it impacts the students that attend those institutes. It is a tale of friendship, first loves, heartache, and the pressures of academia and life. 

Story

A cutthroat rivalry between two coaching institutes in Kota turns into a fierce and illicit competition. The owner of RJ Institute is power hungry and deeply obsessed with expanding his institute all over the city.

To achieve this, he tries all illegal means to reach the desired ends. This includes bribery, providing unsafe and illegal pills to the students, poaching teachers and institutions and whatnot.

The son of the owner of Batra Institute also tries his best to compete and win this game. In all this, the life of the students gets entangled.

In addition to first loves, heartbreaks, academic pressure and changing dynamics, the students are also used as puppets by these adults to win and destroy the other.

Academic pressure, high suicide and abortion rates, managing their family expectations and deteriorating mental health is the true reality that these students face.

A scary depiction of how far these institute owners go to be the best and at what cost is aptly shown in this tale of Kota city.

Performances

The ensemble does a good job. Annu Kapoor playing the villainous and greedy Mr Jindal is spectacular. He shines all the way, like in every role he does.

Other adult characters like Binny and AK played by Udit Arora and Pranay Pachauri respectively also do a satisfactory job.

Coming to the young actors, Vidhi played by Anushka Kaushik is wonderful and portrays all the subtleties and anxieties of a young girl perfectly.

Hridhu Haroon who plays Sathya is also impressive. The same cannot be said for the other actors, they were mediocre at best.

Positives

Crash Course deals with sensitive topics that are still very relevant and important despite being touched upon in other media.

The high suicide rates and the pressure of academics is a reality in the country and especially in a competitive city like Kota, and that is depicted realistically.

It evokes the right emotions at times and deals with friendship, bonds and the problems these youngsters face aptly.

The dialogues are lifelike and relatable. The writers show that they have their finger on the pulse when it comes to issues such as this.

Negatives

Crash Course is unnecessarily lengthy. Either the time should have been used more productively to cover more issues and background storylines or it should have been cut short.

There are some sequences that feel overly stretched and put off the audience.

The plot is not novel and sometimes even predictable. Crash Course follows a pattern that has been seen before a few types with better execution.

Verdict

Even though Crash Course revisits and dramatises plots and topics that are already done, they are still worth taking a look at.

The show is very lengthy but it has a premise that deals with issues realistically.

The true face and the fierce competition including the corruption, the stress of individuals and parents and the relatable friendships and dialogues is a plus point which may compel you to watch this series.

Rating: 2.5/5


Also Read: Crash Course (2022) ending explained: Does the rivalry between the institutes end?

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