His Storyy: a sensitive tale of complex relationships in urban setting narrated from the heart

By Rajesh Ahuja

It  has been a blissful marital life for Kunal and Sakshi for 20 years of their marriage. In the new web series His Storyy,  being streamed on Alt Balaji and Zee5,  Kunal, an investment banker turned restauranteur, has had a blissfully happy married life with  a successful chief Sakshi. Together, they run a chain of three successful restaurants. With a successful professional Life and a blissfully happy personal life with two adorable children, Kunal and Sakshi are a perfect couple for their friends and acquaintances.

This blissfully happy married life of Kunal and Sakshi is thrown into a turmoil as she discovers about his relationship with another man Preet. After attempts to dismiss it as a sign of boredom in the marriage fail Sakshi confronts Kunal on his other relationship. What follows brings a storm into her life as Kunal reveals that his relationship with Preet is a manifestation of his real self that he has been denying all this while. While in Sakshi he found his love, in Preet he found his soulmate. Finding themselves at the crossroads of  their life, Kunal and Sakshi now have to learn to come to terms with the reality of their relationship.

The abrogation of Article 377 by the Supreme Court may have legalized same sex relationships in India but social mindsets in the country continue to be pitched against such relationships, viewing them as a sign of abnormality.  Many of the films and web series dealing with the subject have only served to encourage such mindsets by showing such relationships in a secretive manner.

His Storyy is a sensitive and mature tale of complex relationships in urban settings 

Viewed in this context,  His Storyy comes as a breath of fresh air with the sensitive manner in which relationship between Kunal and Preet is portrayed.. At no point in the story does Kunal say that his relationship with Preet is a one off relationship or a fling. Infact, he is shown as saying that in Preet he found his soulmate and that his relationship with him is a manifestation of his real self and his feelings that he had been hiding from everyone till now.

 Though, expectedly,  the unraveling of Kunal's relationship with Preet lead to shocked reactions from his family members and friends,  at no point does the director makes you feel as if it is something sign of abnormality. Also, the maturity with which the series shows the three protagonists Sakshi(Priyamani), Kunal (Satyadeep Mishra) and Preet (Mrinal Dutt) dealing with the revelation is commendable.

The director Prashant Bhagia needs to be lauded for this.

The web series is also an incisive look into how,, despite the abrogation of Article 377 , there is continuing hate for people having same sex relationships even in so called 'broad minded' and 'affluent ' families.

After her earlier show The Married Woman,  Ekta Kapoor needs to be applauded for dealing with same sex relationships in a sensitive and mature  manner in His Storyy.

The high level of maturity with which the revelation of the relationship between Kunal and Preet is dealt with makes you pleasantly surprised. It is yet another sensitive tale from Alt Balaji.

In terms of acting,  Satyadeep Mishra,  Priyamani and Mrinal Dutt come up with brilliant performances as Kunal,  Sakshi and Preet.  The level of maturity that is seen in their enactment of their respective characters is praiseworthy. There is no  display of melodrama in their performances.

Nikhil Bhatia and Mikhial  Gandhi, who play the sons of Kunal and Sakshi, -the elder one being homophobic while the  younger one being sympathetic to same sex relationships- impress with their performance .

A special mention must be made of Anmol Amir Kajani, who plays role of Ved, the son of Kunal's friend (Rajiv kumar) . A child with a poetic bent of mind, and homosexual traits, Ved is seen to show a sensitivity to people having same sex relationships.  With his sensitive portrayal,  Anmol Amir Kajan is a surprise package of show.

Other members of the cast, Including Parineeta Seth, who plays Sakshi's close friend Loveleen  and Rajiv Kumar, who plays her husband and a family friend of Kunal and Sakshi,  lend adequate support.

In a nutshell,  His Storyy is  a sensitive and mature tale of complex relationship in urban setting narrated from the heart.

My rating: 3/5- one for the story,  one for direction and one for brilliant performances by Satyadeep Mishra, Priyamani , Mrinal Dutt and Anmol Amir Kajan.