The story of the Oka Chinna family story, created by Manasa Sharma and Mahesh Upala and directed by Mahesh Upala, has a familiar premise to those who watched mass films in Telugu. His father rebuked him for mending his ways, a dead son who was neither good at teaching nor talented to boast.
His mother continues to fall in love with the mistake. Middle-class families struggle to make ends meet, and the responsibility rests entirely with the father. The action takes place in the austere environment of Varangal. Since most of the stories occur in the home or neighbourhood, it all comes down to how well the writing style is and how well it adapts to the canvas.
Children’s episodes identify the main characters.
The boy has duly failed in all his subjects and the convinces his mother that “F” means “fas” and “P” means “bucket”. He happily agrees and offers to prepare his favourite dish, Pappu Charu. Luckily, the rest of the comedy isn’t so ordinary.
Growing up, Mahesh (Sangiit Shobhan) failed three times at B.Tech. His mother, Rukmini (Tulasi), continues to make him Pappu charu. Haridas’ father (Naresh) tries to rekindle the mother and their son but in vain. An empty grandmother (Prameela Rani) sees her world revolving around the television.
Soon the father is gone (this is not a spoiler as revealed in the trailer), and the mother and daughter have to deal with the financial mess. How the two, not even pragmatic, handled the situation seemed like the perfect setting for a dark comedy and story about their son’s growth.
Some of the portions are delightful if you succumb to disbelief. Take the order in which the family receives the bill – water, electricity, groceries, and more. “I’ll handle everything like I’ve been doing all along,” Mom said and diligently put the bill into the red box. Fill, close, forget. It isn’t easy to accept the hypothesis. No matter how naive a middle-class housewife was, would she ever realize that the bills had to be paid?
However, once you get into the incredible atmosphere the series is trying to create, there are plenty of laughs. The speculation and conspiracy theories about the giant credits are hilarious. Also, families who turn to their maternal uncle (Rajeev Kankala) as if it were their right to seek financial help also give up on the good times. The previous dialogues and songs are also used to amplify the humour.
Finally, the Oka Chinna family story moves into a bleak and dramatic space:
When Mahesh is forced to find a job to pay off his growing loan obligations. He looked disinterested for a long time between Mahesh and the girl from the Kirti district (Simran Sharma).
The story of the Oka Chinna family story is slow-moving and looks like a two-hour story with five episodes. Lots of repetitive and boring mentions of Pappu Charu. The show helps save the drama to some extent. The long Sangeeth Shobhan is powerless in his non-heroic nature and gets the rhythm just right. Tulasi is also underestimating and his odd moment with Sangeeth succeeds. Naresh, Pramila Rani and Senu are suitable as bank representatives.
The last episode tries to make up for the series. The more or less predictable story ends with a question mark and leaves room for a second season.
The biggest folly in the series is how he describes his relationship. I often wonder if Mahesh ever shared memorable childhood moments with his father. Because all he had for his late father was bitterness. I had a similar request regarding my wife’s relationship with her late husband.
Did she force her affections too much on her loving mother to see her husband for who he is? The series doesn’t respond to that, just as it doesn’t even stop showing that they grieve after losing.