A
Suitable
Boy
Written
By
Vikram
Seth
Released
In
1993
While
mothers
are
supposed
to
be
annoying
but
loving
and
caring, Mrs
Mehra
here
is
downright
unbearable
with
a
snobbish
English
accent
and
high
Indian
values,
which
do
not
go
together.
Meanwhile,
Lata
can't
fathom
how
her
sister
can
marry
a
guy
she
just
met.
She
also
has
a
problem
living
under
her
mother
and
her
sister's
family
and
also
stands
up
to
her
university
professors.
She
is
a
21st-century
woman
in
the
20th
century.
Unfortunately,
despite
being
the
main
character,
Lata
and
her
aspirations
are
not
in
the
show's
forefront.
The
Show
Follows
Love
Stories
In
1951,
A
Free
India
The
show
also
lacks
the
dramatic
flair
so
much
so
that,
even
when
Mrs
Mehra
is
attempting
to
emotionally
blackmail
Lata,
it
just
comes
off
as
a
regular
conversation.
The
dialogues
in
English
fail
to
convey
the
right
emotions,
and
on
the
other
hand,
the
dubbed
Hindi
version
just
feels
awkward
with
characters
spacing
out
on
their
own
conversations.
A
bigger
deal
in
the
show
is
Maan
(Ishaan
Khatter)
and
Saeeda's
(Tabu)
love
story.
In
every
scene
and
every
step
of
the
way,
Ishaan
makes
sure
to
look
at
Tabu
like
she
is
something
to
own
and
conquer,
instead
of
admiration
and
love,
which
is
what
I
had
expected
of
Maan.
Though
their
love
story
is
supposed
to
be
a
sub-plot,
they
take
up
much
of
screen
time
since
episode
one,
which
also
falters
the
show's
direction.
Mira
Nair's
Directorial
Is
Now
Streaming
On
Netflix
Adapting
an
almost
1500
page
book
is
not
an
easy
task
and
Mira
Nair's
adaptation
proves
it
yet
again.
Apart
from
indulging
in
the
film's
narrative,
we
also
get
a
strong
undertone
of
today's
religious
tension. I
had
high
expectations
from
a
show
with
Indian
actors
representing
India
on
an
international
front,
but
A
Suitable
Boy
only
turned
out
to
be
a
whitewashed
version
of
what
India
should
have
looked
like
in
1951,
after
gaining
freedom
from
the
British
Raj.
On
the
international
front,
the
representation
of
South
Asian
culture
has
been
poor
for
many
reasons,
but
A
Suitable
Boy
doesn't
make
an
effort
to
change
one
bit
of
it.
By
just
adding
brown
faces,
appropriate
costumes
and
a
few
well-pronounced
Hindi
dialogues
does
not
make
the
show
about
India
and
its
people.