'13th' review: SonyLIV series suffers from bland execution
What's the story
13th, out on SonyLIV, is produced by Abhishek Dhandharia, who's also the showrunner. Created, written by Sameer Mishra and directed by Nishil Sheth, the show will instantly remind you of The Viral Fever (TVF)'s projects due to its rawness and theme. Alas, the similarities end there. Despite an interesting premise, the series, which draws from the life of Competishun founder Mohit Tyagi, never soars.
Plot
A student helps his teacher realize his dream
The show follows Ritesh (Paresh Pahuja), a rising venture capitalist who gives up his high-paying job to help his mentor, MT Sir (Gagan Dev Riar). MT Sir taught Ritesh during his "13th year" (the drop year after the 12th grade), when he was an IIT aspirant. Now, years later, Ritesh decides to help him build a visionary ed-tech startup. Will the guru-shishya succeed?
#1
The protagonist is always at a distance from us
13th fails to hit the right spot due to its extremely heavy-handed storytelling. From the first frame, the show positions Ritesh as an aggressive, hot-headed man who marches to his own beat. Early on, he bursts into a fiery speech about his dissatisfaction with his job, which sets in motion the chain of events that leads him back to MT Sir.
#2
Too filmy, too theatrical
The conversation-heavy show has some sharp dialogues, but mostly everyone delivers full-fledged sermons! When you hear MT Sir and Ritesh talk, you instantly get turned off because they seem like filmy cardboard characters and not real, rooted people. Also, funnily enough, during the flashback scenes of Ritesh's JEE preparation, we see MT Sir taking great pains to mentor him. What about the other students?
#3
The supporting characters remain underdeveloped
The show is so obsessed with the two leads that it largely forgets to etch out the supporting characters. The most successful shows (Panchayat, The Family Man) develop the arcs of all characters to make the narrative more believable, but, sadly, 13th doesn't bother. Girija Oak, who plays MT Sir's wife, gets some nice scenes, but that's hardly enough.
#4
Pahuja and Dev Riar try to keep the series afloat
The watchable moments of 13th come from Pahuja and Dev Riar's camaraderie and craft. The show pays tribute to the relationship between teachers and students, especially in the way Ritesh's life comes full circle when he helps MT Sir in his business. "I owe my life to him," he says, and to repay, he becomes his mentor's teacher.
Verdict
Can skip this SonyLIV original
13th biggest undoing is that it takes itself too seriously, and I struggled to have fun with this tedious show. We meet Ritesh's friends in the initial scenes, but their arcs are never properly developed. 13th wants to capture the ache and angst of IIT aspirants, and it almost does, but it fails to capitalize on the theme completely. 2/5 stars.