Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo follows the story of a matriarch who along with her daughter and daughters-in-law runs a local business invokving drugs. This, while the men of the house are unaware of their antics. The story here is absolutely refreshing and intoxicating in a good way. The concept of women ruling the roosts in a rather unapologetic manner with men taking a backseat, is a winner already on paper. And it is the screenplay standing at 8 episodes of roughly 40 odd to 50 odd minutes that does make for a textured and compelling watch.

One big advantage of the medium of a webseries is that the makers get enough time to setup the context and invest time in the world building and character development. And that is essentially the crux of Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo that the writers get right straight up. The world building here is fascinating with the barren landscapes of Rann Pradesh(a fictional account of Rajasthan) adding the much needed ambience to the drama. And this is where you are introduced to the protagonist, a sort of a local mafia with her daughter and daughters-in-law at her disposal. Through their talks, you do get a gist that the men of the house are unaware of their ‘business’. Just before their arrival, the viewers are privy to an elaborate action set piece that does make two things clear – the matriarch has many enemies looming around the corner and that she would soon need to keep the men updated about her business. This, while there are streaks of dark humour prevalent in the narrative(something that continues subtly throughout the runtime).

The proceedings are engaging and engrossing wherein I was really invested in the character dynamics between the individuals. The characters traits of every character was interested, and it did threaten to shift the power centre of the Haweli in more ways than one. As a subplot, you are always introduced to multiple characters who are potential obstacles for the protagonist. The subtle twists and turns are quite interesting although I do feel that for most of its runtime, the drama is fairly predictable. Ideally, I would have liked the stakes to be raised a little more but I still was invested in the journeys of the characters. The events are layered and textured and make for a fascinating outing including the portions of the flashback that do give you some context to the characters. The undercurrent of various stakeholders posing as successors to the ‘throne’ did make for a compelling watch too.

One drawback in the drama was that it did go around in circles for a wee bit in the second half of the show. I would have also wished for a lengthier faceoff between the different parties while also giving the antagonists a little more screen time. Nevertheless, the events leading up to the final act are fascinating and I did like the transformation of a few characters(for the better or the worse) as well. The multiple twists in the tail were good at the end, however I would ideally have liked if the track would have ended, and instead a fresh track could have started for season two. But still, the screenplay here is refreshing and enjoyable for most parts.