Startup adventures with workplace friendships
The rags to riches story may not turn out to be true for all startups as they have to struggle a lot and only a handful companies manage to reach the top. MX Player and Mirchi’s Basement Company, is based on one such startup which struggles to stay upbeat by crisscrossing many impending obstacles from various quarters.
Story
Raj Chadda (Gagan Arora), Rahul Pandit (Mayur More), and Simran Ahuja (Apoorva Arora) are fresh jobbers who join PunjaBeats owned by Sukhwinder Singh (Jassi Kapoor). Soon their workplace is moved into the basement by virtue of a lucky draw through which their boss Pankaj Pandey (Avinash Pandey) wins a swanky cabin in the office. On the flip side, the basement from where they have to operate, is nothing but a junkyard with leaking water pipelines, a Wi-Fi that refuses to cooperate, and cramped surroundings.
Meanwhile, Raj and Rahul get into a spat over Simran making her upset. They both try to make things right with her, and the shabby basement comes to their rescue. The three reunite and try their luck to convince Sukhwinder to shift them from the basement.
Will wisdom prevails over Sukhwinder and will the three freshies ever get out of the claustrophobia triggering basement?
Performances
Mayur More as usual sticks to his stereotypical expressions and symmetrical body language which he needs to change to pull on. Apoorva Arora is at her best in terms of grace and a heartening performance marked by her spot on expressions. Gagan Arora also has done well especially during the password recovery scenes which stand out.
Jassi Kapoor has done a splendid job in the role of an entrepreneur who values traditions and realizes the importance of interpersonal relations in running the business.
Chidaksha Chand as Chandini and Avinash Pandey too have chipped in with their best to further bolster the show.
Positives
The conciseness is the soul of Basement Company. It has some good motivational dialogue to inspire people working in the private sector along with near-perfect funny situations which are quite enjoyable.
The way a simple story has been woven into a sitcom is appreciable and director Divyanshu Malhotra and writers Tarun Dudeja, Parijat Joshi, and Riya Mukherjee have made a fabulous contribution in dishing out a clean and neat entertainer.
In addition, the guest appearance by the popular British-Indian composer Manj Musik aka Manjeet Singh Ral is another special attraction that cannot be missed.
Negatives
Basement Company is not bereft of flaws as it has a close affinity to another popular web series The Office. Some sort of innovation and variety could have done a lot of difference to the plot.
Also, nothing much can be analyzed about performances when each episode is confined to a runtime of 18 to 20 minutes. The rationale behind segregating a shorter web series again into different episodes is not understandable.
Worth it?
It’s a time pass series that can be watched leisurely with a bucket of popcorn. Those who are at the starting of their careers in similar startups can relate and learn a lesson or two from Basement Company which is another plus point.
