Laakhon Mein Ek – Wikipedia

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Indian TV series or program

Laakhon Mein Ek (transl. One in a million) is an Indian streaming television series created by Atharv Agrawal Rath, produced by OML Production. It is an Amazon Prime Video original series. Season 1 premiered on October 13, 2017, premise of the series revolved around the struggles of Aakash, a teenage student from Raipur who is sent to a coaching centre Genius Infinity in Visakhapatnam for preparation of IIT entrance exam. The Season 2 premiered on April 12, 2019, and was about Dr. Shreya and her fight with government for healthcare in Sitlapur Village.

Premise[edit]

Season 1[edit]

Aakash Gupta wants to make mimicry videos and become an internet sensation, but his father wants him to be an IITian and an engineer. He doesn’t get admission in any college in Raipur after getting 55 percent marks in board exams. His father sends him to a coaching institute Genius Infinity in Visakhapatnam where he gets sent to section D, where the students with least marks in 10th Boards are enrolled. He befriends his roommates Chudail and Bakri.

Season 2[edit]

Dr Shreya is posted in Sitlapur village to conduct a cataract camp. But the villagers aren’t the biggest believers in Government healthcare, the supplies aren’t separate from the politics, and the staff isn’t the dream team one would desire.[1][2]

Season 1[edit]

Season 2[edit]

  • Shweta Tripathi as Dr. Shreya Pathare
  • Sandeep Mehta as Dr. Gopal Patwardhan(CMO)
  • Rupesh Tillu as Bhola
  • Suyash Joshi as Raju Babu
  • Arun Nalawade as Ishwar Mhatre
  • Milind Joshi as Health Minister
  • Ishan Mishra as Dr. Ankit Gupta
  • Pravina Deshpande as Dr. Madhavi
  • Prithvik Pratap as Ravi Aathlye

Production[edit]

The first draft was totally my story, the second draft was half of my story and half something else, the third was half of the second script and half of the other things, and so on.[3]

— Biswa, talking about his show

It started out as a comedy, but slowly through the writing process, we understood that this is not a story for a comedy. If we have to stay true to their world and the characters, we will have to sacrifice the comedy. We were more than willing to do whatever the story deserves.[4]

— Biswa, talking about his show

Created by Biswa Kalyan Rath, the show is produced by OML Production, directed by Abhishek Sengupta and written by Vaspar Dandiwala, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Karan Agarwal. Biswa began writing Laakhon Mein Ek somewhere between late 2015 and early 2016.[4][3] Biswa said he started writing the story simultaneously with doing comedy and although from conception to the idea it took two years, the actual writing time is 8–12 months as he was “doing several other things alongside”.[5] The script first started as Biswa’s own story but later on it developed to its own story, inspired by “people he met and places he has been to”.[6] When asked about the casting process, Biswa credits his director, saying that he “wanted to keep it realistic by not making a 22-year-old play an 18-year-old”. Sengupta said that “[w]e really lucked out with the boys — Aakash, Bakri, and Chudail (the three protagonists)” and “we wanted to have people who could relate to the characters.
Aakash Agarwal handled the cinematography and the production designer was Prashant Bidkar. Ruby Thakur served as the Executive Producer. Shruti Rao and Tihany Sengupta served as the supervising producers”.[6]

Biswa started writing Season Two almost immediately after the release of Season One. Collaborating with director Abhishek Sengupta and writer Hussian Haidry, they had innumerable conversations with several medical professionals and public health practitioners to write this story.
Aakash Agarwal handled the cinematography and the production designer was Snehi Shah. Varsha Venkatesan served as the Executive Producer for the Second Season along with Tihany Sengupta as the supervising producer.

Episodes[edit]

Season 1[edit]

Season 2[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Laakhon Mein Ek received mixed critical feedback. Rahul Desai of the Film Companion gave three stars out of five to the show, and wrote that “it’s the mechanics of this atmosphere – the specifics and little details – that makes this show more lived-in than its mainstream companions”.[7]Mid Day‘s Letty Mariam Abraham wrote that “Laakhon Mein Ek is a powerful drama” and gave it two and a half stars out of five.[8]The Quint‘s Megha Mathur wrote that “[it] [f]eels like Biswa got a little lazy while writing the end” and “Laakhon Mein Ek is no unique take on Indian parenting and education, but I wish Biswa’s edgy humour had translated into a more satirical and dark drama that stood out in the crowd”.[9] Akhil Sood of The Hindu wrote that “Laakhon Mein Ek is not without its flaws — for starters, basing its very premise on an overdone subject — but it succeeds in its raw depiction of a life that leaves lakhs of embittered students in its wake”.[10]FirstPost’s Utkarsh Srivastava praised the show’s music and background score as “top notch” but criticised the show’s writing saying that “[s]adly, Laakhon Mein Ek disappoints on the very front it was expected to do well: the writing”, and “Biswa cannot translate his comedy gifts into a solid drama storyline”.[11] Sampada Sharma of The Indian Express also praised the sound design and said that it is “honestly quite refreshing” to watch the show.[12] Kritika Dua of the Daily Pioneer gave four stars out of five to the show.[5] Aditya Mani Jha of the DailyO praised the show’s writing, cinematography and actors’ acting and wrote that “Laakhon Mein Ek is a success, smartly written, competently shot with a no-frills aesthetic, and brilliantly acted”.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Amazon Prime’s Laakhon Mein Ek Season 2 teaser out. Taapsee Pannu asks some tough questions”. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ Suhani Singh (12 April 2019). “Laakhon Mein Ek 2 review: Shweta Tripathi starrer exposes some inconvenient truths of a corrupt system”. India Today. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Ghosh, Devarsi (13 October 2017). “Biswa Kalyan Rath: ‘All humour is about power and the correct usage of it’“. Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b Singh, Suhani (12 November 2017). “Laakhon Mein Ek: Comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath’s Amazon Prime series asks some tough questions”. India Today. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b Dua, Kritika (21 October 2017). “Nailing it with laughter”. The Pioneer. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  6. ^ a b Manral, Anvisha (12 October 2017). “Biswa Kalyan Rath on his new show Laakhon Mein Ek, and moving on from Pretentious Movie Reviews”. FirstPost. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  7. ^ Desai, Rahul (25 October 2017). “Laakhon Mein Ek Review: The Topography of Terror”. Film Companion. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  8. ^ Abraham, Letty Mariam (18 October 2017). “‘Laakhon Mein Ek’ web show review: Honest effort with effective casting”. Mid Day. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  9. ^ Mathur, Megha (25 October 2017). “Biswa’s ‘Laakhon Mein Ek’ Barely Stands Out, Ironically Lacks Edge”. The Quint. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  10. ^ Sood, Akhil (27 October 2017). “The great Indian IIT dream”. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  11. ^ Srivastava, Utkarsh (14 October 2017). “Laakhon Mein Ek: Biswa Kalyan Rath’s web series has promising premise, faltering plot”. FirstPost. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. ^ Sharma, Sampada (24 October 2017). “Review Laakhon Mein Ek: Biswa Kalyan Rath’s series is a dark tale that we wish was more gripping”. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  13. ^ Jha, Aditya Mani (16 October 2017). “Laakhon Mein Ek is brilliant, but no genius takedown of IIT coaching nightmare”. DailyO. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2018.