Vinay
Pathak,
Divyenndu
Sharma
and
Kusha
Kapila
are
comfortable
enough
in
their
comic
skins
to
play
their
parts
with
ease,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
Anybody
who
wants
to
make
a
comedy
about
a
loony
family
and
a
dysfunctional
hotel
should
watch
Fawlty
Towers
or
Schitt’s
Creek,
not
necessarily
for
inspiration
but
to
absorb
some
great
comedy
vibes.
The
new
series,
Life
Hill
Gayi
is
set
in
a
hotel
in
picturesque
Panchmoli
in
Uttarakhand.
Spoilt
rich
brats
Dev
(Divyenndu
Sharma)
and
Kalki
(Kusha
Kapila)
drive
there
with
their
alcoholic
father,
Himalay
(Vinay
Pathak)
for
a
meeting
with
Himalay’s
father
and
owner
of
the
hotel
(Kabir
Bedi),
only
to
find
a
dilapidated
structure,
being
looked
after
by
Kripal
(Atul
Shrivastav).
The
grandfather
addresses
them
from
a
screen
and
informs
Dev
and
Kalki
that
they
have
to
get
the
hotel
up
and
running,
sharing
the
responsibilities
between
the
two,
and
whoever
does
a
better
job
will
inherit
his
estate.
Their
cards
are
blocked
so
they
have
no
choice
but
to
stay
put
and
make
it
work.
(‘Aish
ki
zindagi
khatam,’
as
grandpa
puts
it.)
Himalay
has
obviously
been
given
up
as
the
hopeless
idler
that
he
is,
and
spends
most
of
the
series
making
a
nuisance
of
himself.
The
hotel
is
quickly
renovated,
and
in
this
age
of
ratings,
they
are
so
worried
about
getting
a
bad
review
that
they
even
give
the
best
room
to
a
suspicious-looking
serial
killer.
The
show,
directed
by
Pawan
Mistry
and
written
by
Jasmeet
Singh
Bhatia,
is
off
to
such
a
groan-worthy
start
that
things
can
only
get
better
from
there
on
and
they
do.
The
brother-sister
compete
like
crazy
for
the
medals
Dadu
gives
out
to
a
task
well
done
but
they
are
obviously
out
of
their
depth.
Kalki
hires
an
inept
bunch
of
locals
as
chef,
receptionist
and
security
in-charge.
There
is
great
comic
potential
built
into
the
situation,
which
is
simply
allowed
to
slide
away.
Since
things
are
never
seen
from
the
point
of
view
of
‘normal’
guests,
there
is
no
way
of
figuring
out
just
how
the
hotel
is
run
with
a
skeletal,
untrained
staff.
(The
‘Type
of
Guests’
promo
for
Life
Hill
Gayi
is
actually
quite
amusing
but
none
of
those
specimens
are
seen
in
the
series!)
There
is
a
very
unfunny
episode
of
a
large
bunch
of
student
hikers
who
cram
into
a
single
room
and
trash
it,
with
some
encouragement
from
Himalay,
who
is
happy
to
find
so
many
drinking
buddies.
The
bit
about
a
vlogger
checking
in
to
find
out
if
stories
of
a
ghost
are
true
is
marginally
better.
Far
from
driving
away
people,
the
rush
of
curious
guests
actually
causes
a
traffic
jam
on
the
narrow
approach
road
to
the
hotel.
Dev,
who
is
supposedly
a
management
graduate,
spends
most
of
his
time
carrying
out
a
flirtation
with
the
local
organic
farmer
Hima
(Mukti
Mohan),
attempts
mansplaining
on
how
she
should
deal
with
her
workers,
and
learns
a
few
things
they
don’t
teach
at
business
school.
By
the
time
of
the
chaos
at
the
wedding
of
the
sarpanch’s
daughter,
and
the
inevitable
movie
shoot
roll
around,
the
viewer
has
least
warmed
up
to
the
characters
and
the
three
main
actors,
Vinay
Pathak,
Divyenndu
Sharma
and
Kusha
Kapila,
are
comfortable
enough
in
their
comic
skins
to
play
their
parts
with
ease.
Since
the
show
is
shot
in
Uttarakhand,
there
is
a
glimpse
of
the
customs
of
the
locals,
and
a
hint
of
the
troubles
that
might
land
on
the
pristine
location
with
unchecked
tourism.
The
drinking
problem
among
the
men,
and
the
women
having
to
run
homes
with
the
men
being
forced
to
migrate
due
to
unemployment
is
mentioned
in
passing.
But
the
‘come
to
Uttarakhand
message’
is
loud
and
clear
(though
it
is
heard
and
seen
better
in
this
week’s
other
OTT
release
Gyaarah
Gyaarah).
Bhagyashree
gets
top
billing
in
the
end
credits
and
appears
for
a
small
scene
at
the
very
end,
so
it
does
look
as
if
a
Season
2
is
on
the
way.
Life
Hill
Gayi
streams
on
Disney+Hotstar.
Life
Hill
Gayi
Review
Rediff
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