#TheLifesWayReviews KOTA FACTORY @TheViralFever #KotaFactory #Drama

Hi Friends,

Yesterday I binged watched the Kota Factory as it's only 5 episodes which go for about 3 hours 15 minutes and totally fallen in love with the overall story and brought back so many memories from the times when I was preparing for my engineering entrance exams from New Delhi and not from Kota like the TVF's Kota Factory's protagonist Vaibhav Pandey played by Mayur More. Ranjan Raj plays Balmukund Meena who welcomes Vaibhav into his world of IIT preparations and becomes one of the best friends. His acting is superb and brings a lot of soul to the whole series. 

Kota is showcased to be run by two major coaching institutes where Maheshwari Classes is number 1 and if you don't get admission there then you join Prodigy Coaching classes. Vaibhav comes to Kota and joins the Prodigy after being rejected admission by Maheshwari Classes and starts in the lowest batch A10. He is introduced to Uday Gupta played by Alam Khan and Shivangi Ranawat played by Ahsaas Channa by Meena. Slowly as he starts his journey he is helped and motivated by Jeetu Bhaiya who is Physics Teacher at Prodigy Classes and the actor behind this role is Jitendra Kumar. In real life, Jitendra is an IIT Kharagpur graduate and moved into movies and web series. 

Kota Factory not only focusses on the various subjects and the nitty-gritty behind those subjects but also coming out from the home environment to stay in the hostels and PG's where the basic necessities is also a struggle despite the amount of money provided by the family. As the friendship develops, Vaibhav and others not only learns a lot about life but also about the IIT preparations. This web series doesn't only show the competitiveness between students but the mental state of aspirants who are spending 1-2 years of their life in Kota and how it impacts the rest of their life. The 21 Days plan is really awesome and you will definitely enjoy watching this web series. 

The dialogues spoken by Jeetu Bhaiya really hits you to think a lot about your own life whatever stage you are in. I really loved watching this web series and want to see it once again especially the parts of Jeetu Bhaiya. Even when Meena says ''Kabhi Kabhi Milne aur saath rehne mein farak hota hai, Dosti hai koi revision thodi na, joh Karna hi hai'' and this dialogue made me cry. It reminded me of several times when I had to leave a lot behind and just go where life took me. That's the biggest reality of life which we need to accept that change is what will keep you moving forward and accept it as soon as possible and make it a way of life. 

There is not only serious mode in this web series but also when they get to relax for 5 days during the Class 12 practicals time and it brings that they are still kids who are handling the pressure of the world. It is the time when Meena falls for Meenal Parekh played by Urvi Singh and Vaibhav for Vartika Ratawal played by Revathi Pillai whom we saw recently in Special Ops as Kay Kay Menon's daughter. These moments are really great as it will bring back all the memories of first love from your school and college days. 

Kota Factory is a comedy-drama created by Saurabh Khanna and Tamojit Das. The songs are created by Karthik Rao and Simran Hora. Cinematography is done by Jerin Paul and a lot of drone shots really bring a lot of great shots of Kota, Rajasthan. The overall production value is great and all actors just fit in their roles and the story is great with a lot of drama, comedy, and motivation. Also, the whole series is shot in Black and White till the end and really brings back nostalgic memories automatically.

I don't know whether there will be a Season 2 of the series but I am hoping that it will happen sometime after the lockdown as the end result of getting into the IIT is not shown but I am sure even these 5 episodes you will want to see again and again. Go for it if not seen to date. The same is also available on Youtube as well as TVFPlay. RATING 4.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

#TheLifesWayReviews AARYA @DisneyplusHSVIP #HotstarSpecials #Aarya #Thriller

Hi Friends,

Aarya is the latest web series launched on Disney + Hotstar online platform and marks the comeback of Sushmita Sen after a gap of 10 years. Aarya has a good storyline with a lot of twists and turns. Sushmita Sen hasn't aged and seems extremely fit to be in the role of mother of 3 children, two being teenagers. I watched the whole series on the day of the launch i.e. 19th June 2020 on Hotstar Digital Platform but didn't get the time to write the review to date.

Also, I found the 9 episodes to be running too slow and it would have made it more thrilling if the speed of the serial has been increased 10-15% as I got disinterested in the series in the first 2 episodes which I watched at the regular playback speed and when I increased the same to 115% then it was working more and kept me on the edge of the seat. 9 episodes in total will take around 7 hours 45 minutes to finish and you can easily binge-watch them on the tour of Rajasthan and the first few episodes are more like marriage ceremonies of the big fat wedding.

The web series stars Chandrachur Singh which also makes a comeback as Jay Sareen, husband of Aarya Sareen played by Sushmita Sen. Namit Das as Jawahar and Ankur Bhatia as Sangram who is the younger brother of Aarya. These 3 persons are handling the business once run by their dad Zorawar played by Jayant Kripalani. Sikandar Kher as Daulat is Zorawar's, right-hand man and later helps Aarya in all her tasks to run the business. Alexx ONell plays Bob with which younger sister of Aarya, Soundarya is getting married played by Priyasha Bhardwaj. Flora Saini also plays a small role of Radhika/Rads as a lover of Zorawar. Sohaila Kapur plays the ex-wife of Zorawar. Sugandha Garg also makes a comeback as Hina but got nothing much to do as the fiancee of Sangram. Maya Sarao plays Jawahar's wife role as Maya. Maya, Aarya, and Hina are best friends in the web series.

The story revolves around the greed of getting rich despite Jay's warnings to Jawahar and Sangram led to the murder of Jay in front of his son. The reign is then handled by Aarya as she overcomes all kinds of challenges and fighting the cause to keep her family close despite several threats from the police and the Shekawat played by Manish Choudhary whose heroine they tried to take and become rich. She herself tries to find the person behind the murder of her husband Jay which keeps you glued to the screen. Sangram runs the operation from jail and ACP Khan played by Vikas Kumar tries to find the culprit. The overall story has many elements which you will like as the fighting spirit of Aarya and the selfish tendencies of Jawahar while all the hell comes loose and there is chaos all around. I really loved the acting of Vishwajeet Pradhan as Sampat - right-hand man of Shekawat. The story tells an emotional part of the afterlife of kids as their father dies and how each one of them tries to handle the situation despite their loving mother and other family members. It's a real struggle inside their hearts, mind, body, and soul and showcased greatly in this web series. Veer (eldest son) is played by Viren Vazirani, Aaru (daughter) is played by Virti Vaghani and youngest son Adi is played by Pratyaksh Panwar. Veer's love interest Pallavi is played by Gargi Sawant.

Some of the issues showcased are just introduced in the story to accommodate everything like ACP Khan to be gay as there is no development of character or something and there is no focus on the same too afterward. Also, the love with the old Bollywood songs is just like as showcased in the Karan Johar's movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil where it was introduced just to match someone's from the production house thinking it will suit the audience and they will like it and here also in this series there are long sequences of the old Hindi songs. It's not like I didn't love those songs but it doesn't make any sense in today's world of web-series unless you are advertising them for SAREGAMA's Carvaan Music player. 

Overall, this web series has a huge star cast with great sets and cinematography and they have kept the ending open so as to make another season. It is not announced yet but in the days to come - it will be as the web series is getting good response from all the fans of Sushmita Sen including me. The web series is produced by Ram and Amita Madhvani along with Endemol Shine India and is based on Penoza a Dutch Drama series by Pieter Bart Korthuis. I also liked the background music done by Vishal Khurana and the story is written by Sandeep Shrivastava and Anu Singh Choudhary. Aarya is directed by Ram Madhvani himself along with Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat. Watch it this weekend on Disney Hotstar. RATING 3.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too where contests will be held in the month of July 2020. Namaste!

CONSPIRACIES @NetflixSA #Drama #TrueEvents #Documentary

Hi Friends,

We always have some of the other questions which raise some kind of doubts in our mind. Earlier when there was no Wikipedia or the internet, people used to read about the same in the library in some of the printed books or old newspapers. They will dig deep into all the news articles, encyclopedias, and specific books written on the topics of conspiracies. We are always intrigued by the unsolved mysteries in our lives and our brains are automatically attached to solving those on our own. 

Netflix series on Conspiracies showcased 12 episodes 42-44 minutes long on various mysteries that still are open for discussions where people have all kinds of opinions. The List of those episodes are underneath - 

1. Nazis - Has Hitler actually killed himself or it was staged and he escaped? 
2. The Royal Family - Mysteries related to the Royal families and their affairs? 
3. The Cold War - How did it all started and who was behind this? 
4. Disappearances - Looking at some of the famous deaths and disappearances
5. The Hollywood Files - Various mysteries related to the film industry
6. Aliens - People claiming to have encountered some kind of mysterious life from other planets
7. Assassinations - Mysteries surrounding the deaths of JFK, Pope John Paul 1 and others
8. Murder at the Vatican - Roman Catholic church and the mysteries related to the establishment
9. Faking the Moon landings - Whether the moon landings were just staged to beat Russia space program? 
10. Pearl Harbour Coverup - Did it actually happened or could have been saved because they got information beforehand? 
11. Drugs, Pop, Punk and Death - Various music artists like Jim Morrison, Rolling Stones and mysteries related to them
12. The Lockerbie Plot - The mysteries related to 9/11, Pan Am Flight 103 and many others

Each episode covers some of the questions you might have and they will give you both sides of the arguments and keep the discussion open for your brain to further delve into those topics. The series is from 2015 and I watched the same last year but somehow kept thinking should I reveal the plot or what shall I say about all these things. But this is one of the topics that will have different impacts on every brain as someone might have more interest and well-read on certain topics and for the other, it will be the first time. It does open your mind to don't take anything whats showcased to you without any further investigations. Always check and challenge all that's taught to us by our schools and colleges. It's always great to research and digs deep into the topics you find interesting. We now have unlimited resources at hand which can help us in the same venture like the internet and Wikipedia and other sources which can really give us some perspective. 

Do check out these amazing 12 episodes and learn a lot about history and how people, countries and governments used it to their advantages? Mark Bazeley is the narrator behind all these documentaries. RATING 3/5

Cheers!!!

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MIRZAPUR Season 1 @PrimeVideoIN #Mirzapur #Crime #Action #Thriller

Hi Friends,

I have always heard about this web series called Mirzapur which everyone liked and somehow I was not able to watch it on Amazone Prime Video but yesterday on Saturday night I finished watching the same after starting the same on Friday. The first thing that I observed is the power-packed performances in Season 1 which was launched on 16th Nov 2018 by all the characters as though they are perfectly suited in the character they are playing. Pankaj Tripathi makes all the web series his own by his unique style and here in this one, he is the Bahubali of Mirzapur - Akhandanand "Kaleen" Tripathi. His son is played by Divyendu Sharma - Phoolchand "Munna" Tripathi who is standing in the college elections and does some acts which bring a lot of problems for the whole family. Kulbhushan Kharbanda plays Kaleen Tripathi's father Satyanand Tripathi who used to run this business and passed on to Akhandanand Tripathi. 

The rivalry is shown between the two parties as the separate was created by the grandfather between Kaleen and one of their bahubali Rati Shankar Shukla (played by Shubrajyoti Bharat) who was not given enough power as he wanted to keep all the power within the Tripathi family. So now Rati is taking care of the Jaunpur area and wants to acquire Mirzapur from the Tripathi family as an act of revenge. Because of one of the Munna's acts of firing in a marriage thereby killing the groom in action, the case comes into the hands of a lawyer Ramakant Pandit played by Rajesh Tailang whom you have also seen in Selection Day (Season 1 and 2). Shaji Chaudhary plays Maqbool Khan who is Kaleen Bhaiya's trusted henchman, advisor, and informer. 

Ramakant's family is showcased by our main heroes of the web series Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey) who gets some 5 minutes to either join the Kaleen Bhaiya clan and work for them or there can be some bad consequences when they beat Munna and his friends as they visit their family to take the case away from their lawyer's father. The journey they undertook using their brains and power of the guns and the social status rising after they join the clan is showcased in all these episodes. As Guddu and Munna are of the same age, they find themselves, again and again, going for the same stuff from the same girl, same business, and many other things which leads to a strong action thriller between them from time to time. 

As they say, Power can corrupt the minds of the saint also so Guddu and Munna are just human beings wanted to grab all the attention from the society. When their dreams break, all the hell broke loose and they go on to do the killing spree which leads to the final episode where a lot of loose ends are kept open for the Season 2 which I checked online is coming on 25th November 2020 on Prime Video. Season 1 is around 7 hours of blood, tricks, and understanding the business of Katta (hand made gun going for Rs 1500) and family politics around the families and the political drama, and also a police angle is entered in the last few episodes. 

Sheeba Chaddha plays the mother of Guddu, Bablu and Dimpi played by Harshita Gaur. Sweety Gupta played by Shriya Pilgaonkar plays the love interest of Guddu and Munna. Golu Gupta played by Shweta Tripathi is the younger sister of Sweety and evolving love interest of Bablu Pandit. Rasika Dugal plays Beena Tripathi, the second wife of Kaleen Tripathi and the stepmother of Munna. She has done a strong role as the wife of Tripathi and her life is going to be showcased in Season 2 further. Abhishek Banerjee is one person who is made to be cast in all the web series and here is he again as Subodh aka Compounder as Munna's best friend. A great acting performance by him as he really lives his character. Also, Aasif Khan is Prime Video's favorite star as he makes his way into some of the other episodes of all the web series, and here is acts as Babar Khan. 

The series has a lot of disturbing blood and throat-cutting sequences that are raw and never ever seen in any of the Indian web series before so it's not suitable for people with weak hearts. There is no skin show thanks to Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar who are the producers of this show along with Inside Edge. In one of the chasing sequences of Guddu and Bablu by the police department, Mavericks cricket commentary is played in the background. The series is created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna and the director is Karan Anshuman and Gurmmeet Singh. The 9 episodes will keep you on the edge of your seat as the action moves from characters to characters. This is worth your time if you want to know the socio-economic-political setting of the Purvanchal area in Uttar Pradesh and the carpet business of Kaleen Bhaiya - under the aid of which how he runs his other illegal businesses. 

The Season 1 ends at that moment where you want more as the newer equations are created as the Tripathi trio does show the whole world their power opening up for more rivalries in Season 2.  This is a web series which is totally raw, a lot of crime, a lot of illegal tradings and how much power can make and break you into someone you have never seen before. RATING 4/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!

SPACE FORCE @NetflixSA #WebSeries #Comedy #Drama

Hi Friends, 

Space Force is an American Comedy-drama on Netflix which is currently running and worth every second of your time. This web series was launched on Netflix on 29th May 2020 and is created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell who plays the lead role as General Mark Naird who is tasked to start the United States Space Force and put the boots on the moon by 2024 by the POTUS. Lisa Kudrow plays Maggie Naird, wife of General Naird and Diana Silvers plays Erin Naird, daughter of General Naird. John Malkovich plays Dr. Adrian Mallory who is Chief Scientist at Space Force. The show is a comedy-drama that plays the fight between the various departments within the US agencies and the fight between the force and the brains. There is always a fight between the might of the brain vs might of the ammunitions. Jimmy O. Yang plays Dr. Chan Kaifang and Tawny Newsome as Captain Angela Ali.

Space Force Season 1 consists of 10 episodes which run for around 35 minutes per episode. The comic timing of Steve Carell needs no introduction and the cast contains many people represented from all over the world. There is an episode where they mention India and Prime Minister Modi that's because of the fact that India is growing to be a superpower and Netflix can't win if it is not able to harness into the Indian Markets of video on demand. The season is launched around the same time SpaceX and NASA are working on the commercial launch of the #LaunchAmerica program to reach International Space Station and it definitely brings the interest of people around the world into a series which is kind of science fiction along with setting the boots on the moon.

General Naird not only needs to take care of the growing demands faced by various agencies and POTUS but also within his family he needs to take care of. He also needs to fight against the minds and risk-taking abilities of scientists which he thinks are very less as compared to the people in the forces. His way of looking at things is totally different from his team of scientists and sometimes he learns from them and sometimes they learn from him. This web series showcases just the tension between various relationships General Naird has with his various resources at the base camp while he discovers himself too.

The Space Force despite the huge star cast is not binge-worthy as it goes very slow and events are situational and the General then finds his way through the same on a day to day basis at the workplace and in his own family life. It's the story of survival as the Space Force and taking the people on the moon with various variables entering the situations on a day to day basis. The Chinese space program is what Space Force is competing against and it's the same kind of humor American TV series, and movies focussed on Vietnam or Russia or Hitler earlier from Rambo to many other movies by just including new types of social media channels into the equation especially twitter. Overall, if you like to watch workplace tensions in a comedy series based on the mission to the moon without any kind of logic then do watch the same and you won't regret it because Season 2 will also come as they end the Season 1 on suspense and much more to look forward to. RATING - 3/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season 2 @PrimeVideoIN #JackRyan #Thriller

Hi Friends, 

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan is back in Season 2 with more action and a new story of financial transactions encompassing new regions of the world. The whole setup is moved from the Middle East to South America and Europe this time around with the backdrop of economic conditions of Venezuela and how the democracy is slowly converting into a dictatorship.

Jack Ryan played by John Krasinski wears a bearded look throughout Season 2. A series of new characters are showcased in this part as the location was a little different from the last season. Jordi Molla plays Nicolas Reyes as the President of Venezuela and Christina Umana as Gloria Bonalde who is getting popularity of the people as the contender in the upcoming Venezuelan Presidential Elections. Noomi Rapace (The girl who played with fire series fame) as Harriet, a mysterious character that is later revealed to be the German agent. Michael Kelly (House of Cards fame) plays Mike November as the CIA Station Chief in Venezuela and Wendell Pierce reprises as James Greer in this part of the series too.

If you have not watched the first season and directly watching Season 2, you will most definitely like this fast-paced season set in Venezuela but if you have watched Season 1, then you will be a little disappointed in this season. Though this one has everything from action, mystery, espionage, breaking from captivity, great locations, tyranny, and other things it's not as great as Season 1. But because of the popularity of the web series, many Hollywood stars are acting in this Season like Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy and Mummy Returns fame) who is a South African actor by the way. Tom Wlaschiha plays the role of Max Schenkel as one of the characters who keep racing from Venezuela to London and Jack Ryan follows him through.

In Season 2, it is difficult to identify who is the real enemy as many countries and companies are investing in Venezuela. Till the end, the web series will keep you on the edge of your seat as Greer gets caught by the enemy and Jack tries to save him using all his might. The season is highly enjoyable if you love the Spanish language as there are so many dialogues in the local language. Overall, Jack Ryan Season 2 is worth binging on Amazon Prime Video and you can watch the same this coming weekend in case not watched till now. RATING 3.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!

BETAAL @NetflixSA #WebSeries #Horror #Thriller

Hi Friends, 

Netflix launched another original web series in the Hindi language on 24th May 2020 and I binge-watched the 4 episodes released yesterday for around 3 hours in total. Betaal is a horror-drama from the house of Red Chillies Entertainment in collaboration with Blumhouse Production and SK Global Entertainment. The web series is directed by Patrick Graham and Nikhil Mahajan. The web series stars Vineet Kumar Singh, Aahana Kumra, Suchitra Pillai, Ankur Vikal, Manjiri Pupala, and Jitendra Joshi in prominent roles.

Betaal is about an old curse on a tunnel where the villagers protect the tunnel and government wants to connect the tunnel to the main highway. A fictional police force by the name of CIPD (Counter Insurgency Police Division) is called to stand against the assumed Naxalites protestors and the villagers are removed by force and their homes burnt. A tribal woman Puniya played by Manjiri Pupala lives to tell the story of the curse on the Betaal mountains. All other characters play some of the ranks in the CIPD namely Vineet (Vikram Sirohi), Aahana (DC Ahluwalia), and others all reporting to Suchitra (Commandant Tyagi). The actors and their body languages look totally fictional to make you convince as they belong to some kinds of force or uniform. That thing becomes visible by the look Vikram has on his face when he says bye to his boss Commandant Tyagi. It's basically a force without any brains whatsoever till the end of episode 4.

The story continues as they dug the tunnel and when some of the workers go inside without their JCBs or any kind of big lights, the already fully built tunnel, they don't come back and then the force goes and some come back infected. Again the main lead of the show Vikram goes inside to see that these are British Raj Military soldiers turned into zombies which he doesn't agree to while Commandant Tyagi is now fully controlled by the head of Zombies Colonel Lynedoch played by Richard Dillane. A lot of superstitions are showcased as Zombies won't be able to run past the Haldi-ash-salt lines but they can fire with their guns, play drums and even fly. Their bullets can also infect the people whom it hits. That's zombies on the next level but they all look kind of IT movie eyes but in red color and look really clown-like. In one sequence they say that all zombies have one eye, one instruction, one mind, and one order but they completely miss the chase when Aahana turns into a zombie and sees the 5 remaining characters running towards the village without getting any support from the other thousand zombies.

The dialogues are totally crap too where one soldier whole firing at British zombies says that this is for Jallianwala Bagh and this is for Bhagat Singh if only revenge and crime such as those will give some peace to the hearts of Indians by killing already dead British soldiers. More logic comes, when they get surrounded by a lot of British zombies so a guy said that he used to be a brilliant student before turning personal assistant and can repair anything and there was a canon by which they then kill the whole range of zombies in the room. Despite killing so many zombies, the dead forces keep on coming as if the mountain holds an unlimited supply of headcounts. The CIPD tries to save themselves and enter the British barracks where Jitendra Joshi (Ajay Mudhalvan) finds the diary of Colonel Lynedoch where he finds that he wants the sacrifice of his daughter Sanvi (Syna Anand) and tries to trade her in.

Overall, the horror audio is nice but not that spicy which will bring you to tremble in fear, and the overall performance of all the artists is just average. None other than Suchitra Pillay and Aahana looked somewhat convincing as the CIPD force. The only shrill that brings you is the mysterious character of village girl Puniya (Manjiri Pupala) as the story slowly unfolds. Vineet has acted just like he acted in Saandh ki Aankh with so much of heart in a force that is totally in the hands of politicians and whosoever pays them as they start to crack and break hierarchy just in the first few minutes of under pressure inside the barracks. In the end, web series making is not the game for everyone and you should not watch all of them until and unless they become super hit by word of mouth. Red Chillies has not been able to convince us with this one also after the Bard of Blood extravaganza. The story did have potential with all the right kinds of mysterious zombies and a storyline of the British Raj but the execution, acting, and production really beat the whole context. RATING 1.5/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!