How often it is that we get to see stories and movies based on the partition that does not always talk about communal hatred but rather shows the simplicity of that era? Not much. The Netflix original series called ‘The Suitable Boy’ is a perfect rendition that beautifully captures the essence of love as well as friendship.
The story revolves around the life of a simple girl, Lata, who is a literature student at the Calcutta University. Her mother always dreamt of her getting married in a good household due to her insecurities after her husband passed away. Lata, her sister, and her mother have always been close even after Lata’s sister got married off.
The story also captures the essence of two best friends, Maan, who is Lata’s sister brother-in-law and his father is a leader of the Congress Party, and Firoz who is the son of a Nawab. Both of their fathers are really close but what the story truly captured was how in the time of communal hatred and violence, these two best friends belonging to different communities did everything they can to be there for each other.
In the series, it is interesting to note that there is not just one love story that is being portrayed. There is a story for every character that has been shown in depth. Maan, who is the son of a Congress leader, is in love with Saeeda Bai who is a dancer or commonly known as Sufi for the kings. It gets complicated because of the fact that how a reputed individual is in love with a dancer twice his age and how the society fails to understand that what they have is true.
On the other hand, Firoz was in love with Saeeda’s sister Tasneem who is also a professional dancer. However, when the series comes to its concluding stage, the viewers get to know that Saida forbids their relationship as Saida is Tasneem’s mother and her father is the Nawab, which makes Firoz and Tasneem half-siblings.
Simultaneously, the story portrayed the boy hunt for Lata which and she had to choose three boys. Kabir Durrani, her first love, whom she met in her college and instantly had a connection. Most of the viewers shipped Kabir Durrani with Lata because of the chemistry they shared and how perfect they were for each other. However, Lata’s family would never have approved of him as he was a Muslim. Lata was so adamant that she asked Kabir to run away but he didn’t because of his passion.
The second boy was Amit, Lata’s sister-in-law's brother. He was a poet and had his book published too. He was the one with utmost wealth and was fondly attracted by Lata but she never felt a connection with him.
The third boy was Harish who was chosen by her mother and had a good stable job, sophisticated and well-settled. Lata and Harish shared a strong friendship when her mother sent her off to Lucknow to keep her away from Kabir. Even when Harish lost his job and started new in a foreign company, he never took Lata for granted.
Lata as a character is shown as a very opinionated woman who is bound by the clutches of society and is desperate to experience the university culture. Lata balances her freedom while maintaining pleasing relationships with her family just like Maan who loves a woman his family would never approve of. Ishaan Khattar for the role of Maan has been given a lot of appraisal because of the intensity with which he performed the role.
The story attempts to capture all the questions like “Is this enough for Lata?’, “will Lata be happy with him?”, etc. All these characters have their own life which are depicted on a large scale. It attempts to examine that whether what children want will correlate with what the parents want or not. It examines how emotional outbursts led to consequences with devastating outcomes but even after that, friendship remains intact.
As a story, Mira Nair has perfectly elaborated the political aspect as well as the emotional areas. It analyses the role of us to determine the path of happiness we choose. While everyone won’t agree with Lata when she finally chooses her boy, but looking at the period the story sets in, it is the rational and loved choice for all.
Written by - Kashish Chadha
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