The
new
season
coasts
along
on
the
simple
anecdotes
that
make
up
the
piggy
bank
of
family
lore;
the
performances
are
as
wonderful
as
before,
but
the
sharpness
of
humour
is
starting
to
dull
a
bit,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
When
Gullak
came
out
in
2019,
a
part
of
its
success
could
be
attributed
to
a
growing
number
of
TV
audiences
having
had
their
fill
of
the
excesses
of
the
saas-bahu
serials.
Some
of
the
older
viewers
would
remember
the
high
drama
of
Hum
Log
and
the
hilarious
antics
of
the
nutty
family
in
Dekh
Bhai
Dekh.
Gullak,
created
by
Shreyansh
Pandey
(and
produced
by
the
prolific
TVF),
fell
into
a
zone
of
realism
that
had
not
been
seen
on
the
small
screen
for
a
long
time.
The
charm
of
the
five-episode
show
lay
in
the
fact
that
the
Mishra
family
looked
and
acted
like
any
north
Indian
family
in
any
nondescript
small
town.
Nothing
earth-shattering
happened
to
them,
but
the
troubles
they
did
face
were
totally
relatable
—
which
ordinary
family
does
not
worry
about
jobs,
health,
exam
results
of
the
children,
and
their
future?
Everybody
either
has,
or
remembers
having,
a
nosy
neighbour
like
Bittu
ki
Mummy.
Gullak
won
appreciation,
awards,
and
more
importantly
a
fan
following.
TV
and
web
shows
come
and
go,
just
a
few
remain
in
the
memory.
Which
led
to
more
seasons
and
finally
a
Season
4
(written
by
Shreyansh
Pandey
and
Vidit
Tripathi),
without
any
deviation
from
the
formula.
Santosh
Mishra
(Jameel
Khan),
his
wife
Shanti
(Geetanjali
Kulkarni),
their
two
sons,
Anand
(Vaibhav
Raj
Gupta
and
Aman
(Harsh
Mayar)
live
in
an
old-style
mohalla,
with
joint
terraces,
so
that
Bittu
Ki
Mummy
(Sunita
Rajwar),
can
walk
in
—
always
at
the
wrong
time,
and
leave
without
realising
how
her
entry
has
stirred
the
simmering
pot
of
a
crisis
in
the
making.
Each
episode
has
a
different
story
—
with
the
cheerful
gullak
(clay
piggy
bank
voiced
by
Shivankit
Singh
Parihar)
—
acting
as
observer
and
narrator
of
the
day
to
day
lives
of
the
middle
class
Mishra
family.
In
a
home,
Santosh
observes
casually
to
Shanti,
a
man
is
like
the
wall
and
the
woman
is
like
the
furnishings.
He
should
have
known
that
he
was
asking
to
be
cut
down
by
his
wife’s
‘maukhik
prahar‘
(verbal
attack),
and
she
wryly
comments
that
the
walls
are
built
just
once,
the
furnishing
need
constant
replacement,
so
he
got
off
cheaply,
just
painting
the
walls
of
the
house
his
father
built.
Santosh
boasts
that
if
there
is
ever
a
problem,
his
third
eye
will
open
(the
subtitles
simply
cannot
manage
to
capture
the
wit
of
the
Hindi
dialogue).
Sure
enough
there
is
a
knock
on
the
door
and
a
municipal
officer
with
a
show
case
notice
—
apparently
the
Mishra
residence
was
not
built
according
to
the
plan
submitted.
There
is
a
fear
of
the
house
being
demolished,
but,
of
course,
nobody
believes
that’s
actually
going
to
happen.
The
episode
is
about
the
‘tunakmizaji‘
(delightful
word,
arrogance
doesn’t
quite
get
the
meaning)
of
dealing
with
the
greedy
municipal
notice-server.
The
episode
about
Shanti’s
chain
being
snatched
has
all
the
feeling
of
helplessness
and
rage
that
accompanies
such
an
occurrence,
which
most
viewers
must
have
gone
through
some
time
in
their
lives.
But
the
episode
of
trying
to
get
rid
of
the
bhangar
(junk)
in
the
house,
is
laugh-out-loud
funny,
because
Mary
Kondo-ing
is
not
for
the
Indian
middle
class
lucky
to
have
a
terrace
and
a
loft.
Every
broken
piece
of
metal
or
plastic
has
some
value,
Aman
even
squirrels
away
an
erotic
novel
that
gets
him
in
trouble
in
a
later
episode.
The
raddiwala
with
a
look
of
undisguised
exasperation
on
his
face,
puts
up
with
Santosh
haggling
over
the
price
of
old
newspapers!
Meanwhile,
over
five
episodes,
Anand,
a
medical
representative,
has
to
deal
with
a
nasty
boss,
while
school-going
Aman
is
in
the
throes
of
puppy
love,
and
worried
about
his
scant
facial
hair.
Bickering
seems
to
be
the
Mishra
family’s
way
of
expressing
affection.
In
so
many
homes
like
theirs,
there
is
not
much
touchy-feely
communication,
but
making
tea
for
a
distraught
mother,
or
cooking
a
son’s
favourite
vegetable
is
what
love
is
all
about.
Gullak
4
is
mostly
as
pleasant
a
watch
as
the
earlier
three
seasons,
but
this
time
it
does
look
like
the
slog
over
the
writing
was
less,
because
the
audience
already
loves
the
Mishra
universe.
The
new
season
too,
coasts
along
on
the
simple
anecdotes
that
make
up
the
piggy
bank
of
family
lore;
the
performances
are
as
wonderful
as
before,
but
the
sharpness
of
humour
is
starting
to
dull
a
bit.
If
there
is
to
be
a
Season
5,
the
walls
may
not
need
rebuilding,
but
the
curtains
do
need
to
be
replaced.
Gullak
4
streams
on
SonyLiv.
Gullak
4
Review
Rediff
Rating:
