A wasted effort
MX Player has been delivering hit web series from different genres lately. Now, it has forayed into the erotic adult comedy genre with Mastram, produced and created by Almighty Motion Picture.
Story
Set in the 80s against the backdrop of picturesque mountains of Manali, Rajaram (Anshuman Jha) a small-time writer, finds it hard to sell his writings forcing him to think differently as advised by the publisher Durga Prasad (Vipin Sharma).
As a result, he starts writing something exciting and erotic, from experiences gathered from his personal life and some out of characters around him under the pen name Mastram. Subsequently, his popularity increases with the readers from all walks of life getting hooked onto the erotic content dished out by Mastram.
Meanwhile, Madhu (Tara Alisha Berry) enters the life of Rajaram and after carrying out a series of loyalty tests on Rajaram, she falls in love with him without knowing the reality hidden behind Rajaram. Rajaram, too, reciprocates favourably and love between the two blossoms paving way for the marriage, till the real secret gets revealed.
Performances
Jha gives out a commendable performance while Sharma, Jagat Singh Rawat as Mama of Rajaram, Aakash Dabhade as Rajaram’s friend Gopal and Alisha perform well.
Positives
The importance given to true love by Rajaram towards Madhu is shown in correct perspective although Rajaram thinks, dreams and writes sleaze most of the time. In this aspect, the director Harish Vyas needs to be appreciated for uplifting the love part.
Negatives
Rajaram, who originally likes to write on contemporary problems faced by women, suddenly jumps onto the bandwagon of erotic writing which is quite unjustifiable. The fact that he never faces any kind of conflict or guilt inside is perplexing.
The fact that all the episodes resemble Gandii Baat series is another drawback for Mastram robbing that little bit of originality it possessed.
Writer Aryan Sunil and director Harish Vyas fail to emphasize on the actual central theme of the series confidently and, as a result, the narrative wavers without proper direction.
Worth it?
There is nothing new that Mastram has to offer and can be ignored without any second thought.
