![]() ![]() ![]() Having said that, the formula turns out to be successful when it blends with Ahluwalia’s finer touches. But to use the same platform to swear by another formula is rather self-defeating. Sure, a platform like Netflix allows Indian audience to consume what had so far been largely guarded or eluded by mainstream Hindi cinema. The issue again boils down to the artist bowing down to the platform: check a few boxes of representation, insert sex and drugs, get someone murdered and end each episode on a cliffhanger. For instance, why is it that the three students who’ve joined an elite school on scholarship include a Dalit and a Kashmiri Muslim? Could we not have been more genuinely inclusive and had a rich Muslim and a tycoon from the OBC to balance it out? If the idea was always to blur the lines between the two classes, then it should’ve been attempted from the get-go. Built as a whodunit in a non-linear narrative, the show tries so hard to conceal its killer that it derails from the very point it was trying to make. But to paint them with the same brush by claiming that the same struggle cuts across classes discounts the very idea that the makers set out to establish and build on. Is the show really about class wars or the Gen-Z’s struggle with identity? It makes complete sense that all the characters are going through similar issues and have similar vices. The most glaring issue lies in the primary point it’s trying to bring across. With promising actors, relatable characters and a keen eye to go beyond the obvious, Class could’ve become a definitive cult classic to Gen-Z, but it relies too much on the Netflix algorithm or the check boxes of inclusivity to be able to make its unique voice heard. I’m not complaining as long as one gets a new, evolved idea to chew on. ‘ Pehla Nasha‘ becomes pehla orgasm and there’s a Pooja Bedi figure letting her skirt lift for entirely different reasons. So the innocence of that film gets replaced by edginess Xavier School, a convent, becomes Hampton International, an world-class campus with rich board of directors. But since it’s 2023, over three decades later, it’s the Netflix-ed version of Mansoor Khan’s cult classic. Ashim Ahluwalia’s adaptation of Netflix Spanish Original show Elite is aptly called Class because that’s what it’s about: class wars in a school campus, a la Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). Hindi cinema is often guilty of confusing class with caste, which is a more complex issue largely unique to Indian society. The promising actors infuse life into a show that could've been dulled beyond repair by its algorithm-driven approach.The show is immensely bingeable and positions fresh talent with great potential.Class relies too much on the Netflix algorithm or the check boxes of inclusivity to be able to make its unique voice heard. ![]()
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