Parichay

Seen on: Monday to Thursday, 9.30 pm, Colors

After she brought Ram Kapoor back to primetime, Ekta Kapoor gets Samir Soni (who was seen in Bigg Boss last year) to woo us in Colors' latest offering, Parichay. It's Kapoor's handiwork and though the first few episodes didn't show anything earth-shattering (in fact, I am sure, female viewers have been craving for Samir darshan which is not as much as I would have wanted it to be), the prospect of watching a good- looking, decent actor is incentive enough.

Soni plays a lawyer, Kunaal Chopra.We are told he was a lawyer who, for reasons best known to Kapoor and her writers, has quit the profession, taken to the bottle, is mostly depressed and the lost hope of a big family (parents, two brothers, one bhabhi and two nieces).We are told he's been a topper throughout and one of the most gifted lawyers in the business. Now, of course he dotes on his youngest brother, Anand, who's also studied to be a lawyer and has landed himself a job with a senior lawyer, Thakral and the bane of Kunaal's existence.

Then there is a girl, who, by a case of mistaken identity, has fallen for Anand and is incidentally Thakral's assistant.

The show, like most Balaji Telefilms' products, has too many characters crowding the screen. I do understand the need for parallel stories to run a daily show but then if you have Soni as the protagonist, it's only fair he's seen more. Come on, I am more interested in what happened to Kunaal and his past than see a horizontally-challenged girl, eating samosas on one hand and exercising on the other! Sorry, not interested in Anand's love story either but that's TV today.The promos promise a lot and when it's time to deliver, they just fall short.

Yet,Kunaal's sporadic outbursts and the simmering tension makes you go back to it for more, at least till the whole story is out. Guess, until then, I gotta grin and bear it.

Meanwhile, to give the makers their due credit, a few scenes are emotionally rich — like when Kunaal's mother starts praising her 'smart' beta, her daughter-inlaw playfully pulls her leg saying, 'Ever since I got married, I have been hearing this!' or when Anand at the behest of Kunaal spends some tender moments with their mother and presses her aching back. Fortunately, most of the cast are decent actors and Samir Soni with his perennially raised eyebrow and lopsided smile is fetching alright!

Now only, if the pace could quicken and the story would focus on Kunaal.

VERDICT: **1/2

A treat for Samir Soni's fans.

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