After 3 successful seasons, ALTBalaji has released the much awaited Season 4 of Gandii Baat: Urban Stories from Rural India. Available on both ALTBalaji and Zee5, the new season is more than just a collection of explicit episodes.
In a country where discussion about sex is considered dirty talk (Gandii Baat) and there is limited access to sex education, the sexual preferences of both men and women remain in quandary.
The desires deep inside their heart get suppressed, perverted or otherwise channelise into depression and other psychological disorders. Gandii Baat 4 is an extension to voice those unheard cries and show unseen tears emanating from suppression, humiliation and exploitation.
Story
In the first episode, a married couple Amar (Ankit Bharadwaj) and Kanchan (Saba Saudagar) brings Prem (Ashish Dixit) into their lives to enliven their marriage. Finally, the three choose to continue with the situation descending into polygamy which is considered a major taboo.
The second episode is much more eccentric yet has an underlying message depicting the silent sufferings of women at the hands of men. Strangely, role play is the theme for this episode where women become men and vice versa for seven days every month. Hence, the women who suffer at the hands of men in the remaining days are able to avenge all the humiliation they receive as well as fulfil their sexual fantasies.
The next episode depicts the story of Jayant (Rishabh Shuklla) who’s nagging wife Megha (Ibra Khan) hates him to the core. There is also Kamlesh (Garima Jain) who’s husband constantly offends her. Out of deprivation, both Jayant and Kamlesh go to the extremity of eliminating their respective spouses exposing the ugly side of disgruntled relationships. The voice-over concludes the episode aptly “If marriages are made in heaven, then why do they fail on Earth?”
The penultimate story focuses on how women trade their husbands for a change and the repercussions of doing so. So far we have seen men trading women but here, the women send their husbands to please an urban women who comes to their village to have some raw fun.
The fifth is a special episode highlighting the necessity of sex education. It follows the evils arising out of lack of awareness and how Kusum (Mridula Mahajan) overcomes her fears and inhibitions around the topic of sex.
Performances
There are no jaw dropping performances but all actors performed admirably. Rishabh Shuklla, Garima Jain and Mridula Mahajan are at their best.
Positives
Director Sachin Mohite deserves all the accolades for his bold portrayal of some untouched dark corners of conflicts and complexities of marital lives. Its both enlightening and thought provoking.
Story and screenplay by Chital Rajesh Tripathi needs special mention for his efforts in presenting the complicated subject in an amusing manner.
The background score by Shantanu Sudame with some melodious vintage songs make the proceedings more absorbing.
Negatives
The negativity surrounding the sleaze factor and skin show are used to spread some invaluable messages. This is the only flawed aspect but with a positive outcome. On the flip side, over publicising of bold scenes may restrict the reach of the inherent message.
Worth it?
Notwithstanding all those adult scenes, there is more than that meets the eye with this one. Don’t watch Gandii Baat 4 just for the adult content; watch it to get some insight into an untouched and unexplored segment of sex education and stigma of sexual preferences. It’s not just dirty talk.