Happily Ever After episode 1 review: Signs of a light and humorous web series

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

We’d suggest watching the episode first if you haven’t:

The rise of streaming in India has led to high-profile titles with eminent names and massive budget being created by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In this era, Zoom Studios’ latest offering Happily Ever After is more in line with how web series originally started in the country.

Similar to TVF’s Permanent Roommates or Y Films’ Bang Baaja Baaraat, the web series will completely available on YouTube and free for anybody to watch.

Meet Roneet (Naveen Kasturia) and Avni (Harshita Gaur), a millennial couple who met way back in a school competition. Years later, everything seems perfect and a wedding is on the cards, except there’s debate on the scale of it.

Roneet’s idea of the is a simple court marriage while Avani, having already married in court once and now divorced, wants a big fat Indian wedding. There’s trouble in paradise, especially with the finances.

The first episode runs through two different periods in time (the courtship in 2017 and present-day 2019) and comes off as heartwarming. The parallel timelines are pulled off without too much confusion or hindrance to the plot.

Kasturia, who you might remember from TVF’s Pitchers, holds his own as the simplicity-favouring Ravneet, while Harshita plays a completely different character from her earlier ones, Sanyukta in Channel V’s Sadda Haq for example, and pulls it off convincingly. Avani is bound to be loved by the audience.

The humour isn’t ever-present, especially considering how good the trailer was, but a few scenes do manage to bring out the laughs. A special mention for the wedding scene where Avani gives an awkward dare to Roneet. Hands down the highlight of the episode.

The web series scores high on relatability but largely suffers from predictability, you know exactly what’s going to happen. Also, while advertisements are essential for funding web series of this kind, the placements weren’t exactly smart or subtle, and end up interfering with the narrative. All creators need to take lessons from TVF’s Tripling.

There are signs of another promising web series, depending on how the other episodes are handled. The start is decent and hopefully, the creators will build on this. If the episode 2 promo is anything to go by, we’re in a for a hilarious ride next.


Catch our reviews for the other Happily Ever After episodes if you missed them:

Happily Ever After episode 2 review: Complications arise

Happily Ever After episode 3 review: Trouble in paradise

Happily Ever After Episode 4 review: A dwindling narrative

Happily Ever After episode 5 review: Too many intrusions

Happily Ever After episode 6 review: A new start

Happily Ever After episode 7 review: What happens now?

Happily Ever After episode 8 review: All’s well that ends well

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*SPOILERS AHEAD* We'd suggest watching the episode first if you haven't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b86ijSw5a-A The rise of streaming in India has led to high-profile titles with eminent names and massive budget being created by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In this era, Zoom Studios’ latest offering Happily Ever After...Happily Ever After episode 1 review: Signs of a light and humorous web series