Candy, amusing and sometimes unusual, it’s Netflix’s latest exhibit that takes an independent-movie tangibility to the half-hour rom-com network. Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, the semi-autobiographical caravan “Never have I ever” concentrates on a first-generation Indian American teen growing up in California’s San Fernando Valley. As the show progresses with its storyline, we see Devi struggle with sorrow over her dad’s unexpected demise, a passionate craving to lose her virginity to the popular high-school jock Paxton Hall-Yoshida, and a childish rivalry with her longtime academic opponent, Ben Gross. In addition to the conventional agonies of American high school, the show extends a glimpse into the distinctive Indian rehearsals and experiences of teenagers, from superstitions over exalted texts to arranged marriage whippings.
In addition to following Devi navigate her own teenhood, one of the apexes of the parade is witnessing the dynamic she has with her best friends and family. After her father’s death, Devi is left to cope with the pain alongside her mom Nalini, and this makes for some very sensible portrayals of the complication Indian households frequently confront when it gets to honest dialogues about the mental constitution. The show’s later episodes raise the emotional shares with Devi being empathetic to Ben’s lonely home life, and Fabiola’s (Devi’s best friend) grapple to come out as gay.
Special shoutout to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, a greenhorn unearthed through a global casting voyage, demonstrates her freshness in a few settings but shines in the strings’ more emotionally stressing sequences. Another zenith of the show is its amazing soundtrack. From former Bollywood slams to fun fresh dance tracks it sticks into the dome when heard once.
