Hostel Daze Season 3
Introduction
It is still a Wednesday but the new releases have already started pouring in. And with that I finished watching the new Hindi series, the third season of Hostel Daze on Amazon Prime produced by TVF. Speaking of TVF, they have been on an absolute roll lately with a show out every week. It started with Tripling S3 then Flames then Sixer and now Hostel Daze, with the third season of Girls Hostel lined up for release on 25th Nov. Their consistency in delivering quality content has been phenomenal to watch, capturing every age demographics perfectly. But with that comes a rider too! Would the quality of the shows be maintained? Would quantity eventually catch up with quality? Only time will tell but at the moment the quality is right up there for everyone to enjoy and relish!
I am from an Engineering background myself and every time there is a series/film revolving around an Engineering college, I am sold instantly. It often does take me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. That is exactly what the first and second season of Hostel Daze had done, although it was quite edgy most of the time. So I had a similar kind of expectations from its third season. So then does the third season of Hostel Daze manage to impress, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
The third season of Hostel Daze follows the story of our beloved bunch who are in the third year of Engineering that brings with it a new set of challenges and fun. The story here is a little more palatable as compared to its previous seasons. And by that I mean it is less edgy and frivolous. This has been a trademark of the TVF shows late, something that I began observing from the third season of College Romance. As the characters gain experience(on the show), the writing keeps adapting to their psyche as opposed to sticking to the theme of the show that it once started with. This is effective storytelling in many ways that organically showcases the maturity of the characters while they age on the show! The screenplay standing at 6 episodes of roughly 30 odd minutes makes for a brisk viewing.
The drama begins on a slightly frivolous note with the introduction of characters, old and new, before finding its groove. We have all been in the middle of many episodes in our college life(specifically engineering) and the series takes you through different “episodes” here. And these can be termed as chapters which may seem trivial then but when you look back, these same chapters would put a smile on your face!
The proceedings are engaging, enjoyable and pretty entertaining. The humour is wonderfully integrated in the screenplay. There are umpteen number of meta-references to films and memes that does make for a fun watch. The drama at its core hits the right notes with its emotions – be it the friendly banter with the gang or a few heart to heart talks between a few characters. The brief love angle between two characters does break a few stereotypes as well!
The final episode was dedicated to the farewell of the senior batch and that was really relatable for me. In fact, it made me remember so many folks from my engineering college whom I have lost touch with. So the final act too was a winner all the way. As they say, engineering teaches you what NOT to do in life but moreover it is one of the best days that you spend before life hits you! And the writing here captures that perfectly. Hoping season 4(4th and final year of engineering) starts and ends on a high. The screenplay here is a notch better than the previous seasons that does give me more hope for Season 4.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are quirky and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of times I found myself laughing hysterically. The music is good like in any other TVF show. The BGM blends well with the drama. The cinematography and particularly the art design creates an apt ambience of the drama that gives the series a fresh vibe to it. The editing is crisp and really sharp. Director Abhinav Anand does a phenomenal job in delivering an enjoyable drama but not before correcting the shortcomings from the previous season. The direction is really good here.
Performances
The performances are really good here. The series is designed to be narrated by one standup comic in every episode. And it was heartening to watch Raju Srivastava in probably his final outing onscreen. It was a bittersweet moment when he says people change and people are forgotten. RIP sir!
Harsha Chemudu and Rashika Pradhan have their moments to shine. Badri Chavan, Abhinav Anand(yes he has acted here as well), Jasmeet and Harish Peddinti are fabulous to watch. Ahsaas Channa as Akanksha looks cute and does a wonderful job. Utsav Sarkar as Ankit is an interesting case point. The role was previously essayed by Adarsh Gourav and so here Utsav initially gets a lesser scope to perform. It almost did seem that the makers were conscious of the fact and slowly wished to warm him up to the audience. So while he does a good job, his character did play second fiddle this time.
Ayushi Gupta as Nabomita looks pretty with a towering screen presence and she does a great job here. Shubham Gaur as Jaat is sincere and earnest. Nikhil Vijay as Jatin aka Jhaatu is hilarious and he cracked me up every time he was onscreen. But he also has an emotional streak to him this time that did make for a heartening watch. Luv Vispute as Chirag is really affable and does a phenomenal job here. He is a vital cog in this season and he comes out a winner!
Conclusion
The third season of Hostel Daze is the best season of the series yet! Available on Amazon Prime and Highly Recommended!