‘Parampara’ Review: This Cocktail Of Family & Politics Is Injurious To Health

A poster of Parampara.

(Photo Courtesy: Disney+Hotstar)

Naidu (Sarath Kumar) is mostly seen in dapper suits with a cigar, or a drink, in his hand. And his thick, flowing beard helps him to hide his lack of sense of humor and self-worth, whereas his brother, Mohan (Jagapathi Babu), looks perpetually bored. He seems as though he’s been dragged into Naidu’s life without his approval. These brothers don’t really hate each other. At the same time, however, I wouldn’t say that they’re two halves of a fruit.

On the surface, Parampara gives you an impression that whatever Naidu does is bad and whatever the other guy touches turns into gold. But that’s just the surface talking.

Mohan, as the reluctant older brother, wants to keep the good, the bad, and the ugly within the four hundred walls of his mansion since he believes he owes his loyalty to the folks that adopted him. And Naidu, who develops an itch for inferiority complex, wants to keep Mohan under his wing – he doesn’t want him to flex his political muscle and become a larger-than-life enigma. Mohan and Naidu are, thus, joined at the hip for a promise made to their late father.

A still from Parampara season 2.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

Parampara actually has an interesting arc because all the main characters live under a single roof.

Was it Tolstoy who said something on the lines of, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way?” Ah, that’s exactly what happens to this family. This is an unhappy family. What are they unhappy about? They almost have everything within their reach. And, yet, they worry about being pushed away from the ground they’re standing on.

We are never satisfied with what we have. We’re always moving toward something bigger, something better, and, perhaps, something that’ll bring us a greater amount of glory. This unhappy family is no different. Gopi (Naveen Chandra) wants to put his father, Mohan, back in the chair of politics, and Suresh (Ishan), who inherits the suits and sleepy mien from his daddy, Naidu, aims to outdo his cousin at every step. How can there be so much bitterness amongst family members? Tsk, tsk.

'Parampara' should have given me a ringside view of pettiness, but it didn’t. Instead, it gave me a headache. It took me three large cups of coffee and the latest episode from 'Koffee With Karan' to clear the glue from my head.

All the chess moves that Gopi and Naidu make are elementary. If Naidu halts Gopi’s progress, the latter immediately bounces back with another plan. The second season doesn’t shift the tone of the series. It just tumbles forward without a motive.

Why do all the characters have conversations as if they’re stuck in the nineteenth century? Did the writers wish to recreate the magical metaphors of Deva Katta’s Prasthanam (2010)? Sarath Kumar is not Sai Kumar – this Kumar cannot send his tongue into a trance like that Kumar to resolve conflicts. Sometimes, a gesture can have a deeper meaning than a monologue. That’s the kind of subtlety that Parampara needed.

But the series isn’t even loud and that’s the problem. A severe case of dullness masks its ineptitude and lets the guns go off in all the wrong places.

I didn’t know if I had to give Mohan a chance to prove his mettle, or pack him off to an obscure country in order to make him discover his true passion. And the story of love and deception that marked the outer edges of Gopi’s modus operandi in the previous season makes no comeback after Naidu gets him arrested.

Large families have large troubles. If some people harbor notions of becoming the bosses, some are simply content to be a part of it. While Ishan and Gopi take their battle to the streets and courts, the women of Parampara somehow keep it under control. But they’re never involved in the process of making decisions. They’re seen as supporting characters from a distance. The one major twist in the tale that gives Gopi an edge over Naidu in the final moments also doesn’t come across as well-earned because it doesn’t give you enough time to care for its women – Kamala (Praveena) and Bhanumati (Aamani).

Although Rachana (Aakanksha Singh) gets a separate thread, as a journalist, in the narrative to follow Naidu’s participation in an illegal business, she doesn’t get to challenge him the way Gopi does. The Hindi series Mirzapur, on Amazon Prime Video, is also set in a similar world, but it is darker, edgier, and even manages to make the weapons stand on their own feet. Parampara, meanwhile, makes the weapons weep.

Parampara is streaming on Disney+Hotstar