Road trips, siblings banter, aberrant scenarios with a dash of feel-good sequences, that has been the pith of Tripling, a show meticulously produced by TVF, one of the leading production houses that ushered the OTT revolution in the country. But Tripling Season 3 is a tad bit more than it’s innate concept of consanguineal bond shared by Chandan (Sumeet Vyas), Chitvan (Amol Parashar) and Chanchal (Maanvi Gagroo) or their dysfunctional personal lives besmirched with oddities that might come across as relatable to some. It is like a rite of passage with all the previous season’s shenanigans fading away in the rear view mirror as the proverbial car subtly changes course.
Unlike its predecessor, Tripling 3 starts on a rather woeful note. Chandan (Vyas) whose first book had accumulated him fame is now back to the world of stocks trading because his second book came out as a dud. But still aspiring to churn out a best-seller, he gets an abrupt call from his mother who informs him about her separation. Shell-shocked and helpless, he dials up a decked-up Chanchal (Gagroo) who seems to be in the middle of a baronial photoshoot with beau Pranav(Kunaal Roy Kapur).
Exasperated by this bit of news and distracted by an agitated Pranav in the background cussing out someone, the duo is virtually joined by the ‘ever-nonchalant’ Chitvan who is relieving himself in a men’s restroom and visibly chilled about the whole situation. He even suggests the ‘ingenious’ idea of a road trip to Manali which is met with collective sighs by the other two siblings. Once in Manali, the trio whiz across meandering hilly roads in their iconic ‘batmobile’ to ‘Amma’s place’ where there is an involuted Pandora’s Box waiting to be unraveled.
Interestingly, Tripling S3 doesn’t get engaging until the last two episodes. But when it does, it opens the floodgates to uncharted emotions and pent up feelings, while breaking away from the conventional mould of familial ties in the process. Now, Summet Vyas and Arunabh Kumar, the perpetual writers of the show have given this a different treatment in comparison to the first two seasons. For instance, the humour in this one is less and sparsely spaced out. While it does aptly retain their impresa with some drollery-laced moments here and there, but mostly this season relies heavily on tight storytelling, establishing well-rounded character arcs, eschewing older tropes and bestowing a concrete platform for Chinmay Sharma’s(Kumud Mishra) and Charu Sharma’s(Shernaz Patel) story to flourish.
Barring the disjointed and lopsided pace of the first two episodes, there are a plenty of heart-warming sequences that this season can boast of. Whether it’s Chinmay’s biker man avatar, oozing swag in leather jackets with Chandan riding pillion to a blind date, Chandan’s bittersweet encounter with an old flame, Chitwan’s fatherly instincts towards his step-son Cheetah, Pranav stepping up at the brink of a tumultuous moment when all hopes seem to be lost, a rhapsodize kiss shared by Chinmay and Charu while slowly dancing in a heart-melting embrace or a soul-stirring family trek into the wilderness, there is not a lacuna of stirring moments that has been an established trademark of Tripling.
Essentially, with this season leaning more towards emotional vulnerability, some absurdly-executed scenes felt like an unwanted ‘elaichi’ in the middle of a toothsome Biryani. A glaring example of that would be the scene where Pranav and his cousin engage in a topless sword fight in the middle of nowhere to determine the status of a disputed property. It derailed the rousing momentum instilled by a scene just prior to that. An irregular anomaly which hampers the flow of effective story-telling.
Solid and superfluous acting has always been a strong forte of TVF produced shows. From Gullak to Kota Factory, the implausibility of actors has time and again provided an extra edge to their heart-tugging stories. Needless to say, Tripling Season 3 is no exception to that. Sumeet Vyas as Chandan has been largely consistent in the skin of an uptight man but for this season, he had shed some inhibitions of his character and gave it a more rounded structure. Maanvi Gagroo as Chanchal might come off as fervently charged and all over the place but her dynamism as an actor is worth the applause. In fact, all three of them collectively have bolstered the emotional quotient of this season, especially in a segment shot amidst a torrential downpour where the Sharma siblings share a tumultuous moment together. Kunaal Roy Kapoor as Pranav is and will remain an indispensable part of the Tripling clan. He is cute, forthcoming, kookie and renders expressions in a self-effacing way.
But the showstoppers of this season has to be Kumud Mishra, Shernaz Patel and Amol Parashar. While Kumud and Shernaz were mostly absent in the earlier season, they made up for it in this one with their dandy and organic chemistry. Since the crux of this season was mostly centred around their characters, the loveable on-screen couple came through with flying colours. Their love story might be unconventional but more piquant than many we know. Meanwhile, Amol Parashar will stun you with his impeccable range while making a segue from the dude bro persona into a more sensitive and serious one. His afflictions as an actor and his flamboyant demeanor even in the middle of a mental breakdown is astounding.
Tripling S3 is helmed by Neeraj Udhwani whose style of storytelling is marked by a soft, empathetic gaze. It copiously gives more impetus to one’s attachment to their surroundings and an intimate plunge into the more unexplored traits of any given character. While he does borrow some techniques from the show’s previous two directors Rajesh Krishnan and Sameer Saxena, but mostly relies on metting out a comprehensive family dynamics in detail. He is aptly complimented by G. Srinivas Reddy’s cinematography and Aman Pant’s symphonious soundtrack. While it didn’t quite match up to Nilotpal Bora’s standards, it does hit a raw nerve here and there. The gems from the album include ‘Raita Phail Gaya’ with its zany lyrics, enveloped by jazzy undertones and ‘Ghar Hi Toh Hai’, a maudlin ode to Chandan, Chitwan and Chanchal’s paternal home, a song brimming with sentiments and nostalgia.
Tripling Season 3, despite dabbling in more serious topics does not compromise with the familiar feeling of warmth and camaraderie between the three siblings. And in extension, marks a new era for the future seasons to come. It’s an incandescent roller-coaster ride
hyperbolized by enlivening moments of bliss, togetherness and placidity even at the face of an imminent family crisis. The gratifying 5-episode series would rile you up at its apogee in the penultimate episode.
Tripling Season 3 is now streaming on ZEE5.
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