Yeh Meri Family (transl. This Is My Family) is an Indian comedy drama web series, created and directed by Sameer Saxena for The Viral Fever. The script was written by Saurabh Khanna, as his first writing project. The series follows the life of a 12-year-old Harshu Gupta, played by Vishesh Bansal, in Jaipur, Rajasthan in the late 1990s. It also stars Mona Singh, Akarsh Khurana, Ahan Nirban, Ruhi Khan, Prasad Reddy, as members of the Gupta family and their acquaintances.
| Yeh Meri Family | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for season 1 released by TVF | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Sameer Saxena |
| Written by | Saurabh Khanna |
| Directed by | Sameer Saxena |
| Creative directors |
|
| Starring |
|
| Opening theme | "Yeh Meri Family" by Vaibhav Bundhoo and Kavya-Kriti[1] |
| Composer | Vaibhav Bundhoo |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Arun Kumar |
| Cinematography | Dhirendra Shukla |
| Editor | Gourav Gopal Jha |
| Running time | 25–42 minutes |
| Production company | Contagious Online Media Network |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVF Play Amazon Mini TV |
| Release | July 12, 2018 – August 16, 2024 |
The first season of the Yeh Meri Family, consisting of seven episodes, premiered on TVFPlay and YouTube on 12 July 2018; it has also been available on Netflix and Amazon Mini TV.
The series was renewed for a second season, set in a different family and time, which streamed on Amazon Mini TV. It was further renewed for a third and fourth season, maintaining continuity from the settings of the second season. The fourth season premiered on 16 August 2024.
Synopsis
editThe first season is set in Jaipur, Rajasthan in the year 1998, the series follows the story told from the point of view of the 12-year-old Harshu Gupta and his family, the various trials and tribulations experienced in their day-to-day lives.
The second season tells the story of 15-year-old Ritika amidst the chaos of the Awasthi family, with the following seasons continuing this plot.
Cast
editSeason 1
editMain
edit- Vishesh Bansal as Harshal "Harshu" Gupta, the series' 12-year-old narrator.
- Mona Singh as Poorva Gupta, Harshu's mother.
- Akarsh Khurana as Devendra Gupta, Harshu's father.
- Ahan Nirban as Devansh "Dabbu" Gupta, Harshu's elder brother.
- Ruhi Khan as Dhwani "Chitti" Gupta, Harshu's younger sister.
- Prasad Reddy as Shanky, Harshu's best friend.
Other
edit- Revathi Pillai as Vidhya M. Ranganath, Harshu's love interest
- Brij Bhushan Shukla as Verma Sir, Harshu's Hindi teacher.
- Nishaad Javeri as Rita Miss
- Mazda Taraporewala as Darpan
- Rajiv Kachroo as Vidhya's father
- Abhay Pannu as Laxy
Season 2–4
editMain
edit- Hetal Gada as Ritika Awasthi
- Anngad Raaj as Rishi Awasthi
- Rajesh Kumar as Sanjay Awasthi
- Juhi Parmar as Neerja Awasthi
- Veena Mehta as Ritika and Rishi's Grandmother
Other
edit- Sarwam Kulkarni as Vaibhav
- Avtar Vaishnani as Aashu Awasthi
- Supavitra Babul as IPS Vijay Awasthi
- Sangeetha Balachandran as Principal
- Pravin Waghmare as Rickshaw wala
Episodes
edit| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 7 | July 12, 2018 | July 20, 2018 | |
| 2 | 5 | May 19, 2023 | ||
| 3 | 5 | April 4, 2024 | ||
| 4 | 5 | August 16, 2024 | ||
Season 1 (2018)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pukam Pukai" | July 12, 2018 | |
|
Harshu intends to take full advantage of the summer holidays, but his plans for fun are derailed when his mother wants him to take Hindi tuitions. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Vish Amrit" | July 12, 2018 | |
|
Looking forward to heading out to celebrate his birthday with friends, Harshu is furious when his mother organizes a party at home instead. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "The 12th Man" | July 20, 2018 | |
|
Worried that his dad is uncool, Harshu is embarrassed when he comes to school. During Dabbu’s cricket match, Harshu is in for a big surprise. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Posham Pa" | July 20, 2018 | |
|
Sick of playing second fiddle to Dabbu, Harshu discovers a secret that could finally taint his older brother's spotless record as the perfect son. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Kacchi Ghodi" | July 20, 2018 | |
|
A big fight between their parents leaves Harshu and Dabbu attempting to keep the peace at home, but chaos re-erupts when Chitti goes missing. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Chupan Chupai" | July 20, 2018 | |
|
Befuddled by Shanky’s pointers on wooing Vidhya, Harshu wants to take a more direct approach, but fears that rejection may be too much to handle. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Chiddiya Ud" | July 20, 2018 | |
|
With Dabbu leaving for college, Harshu can't wait to be the oldest kid at home, but not without a few last sibling spats and some brotherly love. | ||||
Season 2 (2023)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "Apna Kamra" | May 19, 2023 |
| 9 | 2 | "Party" | May 19, 2023 |
| 10 | 3 | "Cable TV" | May 19, 2023 |
| 11 | 4 | "Parent Teacher Meeting" | May 19, 2023 |
| 12 | 5 | "Blank Call" | May 19, 2023 |
Season 3 (2024)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "Same Pinch" | April 4, 2024 |
| 14 | 2 | "Holi Hai" | April 4, 2024 |
| 15 | 3 | "Tit for Tat" | April 4, 2024 |
| 16 | 4 | "Happy Birthday" | April 4, 2024 |
| 17 | 5 | "Moonchh" | April 4, 2024 |
Season 4 (2024)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1 | "Independence Day" | August 16, 2024 |
| 19 | 2 | "Manglu" | August 16, 2024 |
| 20 | 3 | "Bhai Ho To Aisa" | August 16, 2024 |
| 21 | 4 | "Heels" | August 16, 2024 |
| 22 | 5 | "Dosti = Pyaar?" | August 16, 2024 |
Production
editThe creator of The Viral Fever, Arunabh Kumar stated about the concept of making a family-drama series, as according to Arunabh, film and television shows had lacked a good concept of a family drama in the past 20 years, in which a story that everyone can relate to. He wanted to bring the dynamics of the quintessential India family, which was the main core concept of the show. It was set in the 1990s as Arunabh stated that the time period was very organic because "just like the family relationships, 90s had a certain innocence about them".[2]
While Biswapati Sarkar, who worked in TVF's earlier projects was approached to write the script. The media's co-director Sameer Saxena, suggested Saurabh Khanna's name for the show. It was Saurabh's maiden attempt in writing. Mona Singh was approached to play the role of Vishesh Bansal's mother, while Akarsh Khurana made his acting debut with the series.[3] Arunabh chose the background to be set in Jaipur as he found the city was neither too urban nor too rural. It's a very appropriate representation of the middle-class India, for which it gave the show a very suitable backdrop.[4]
Arunabh also noted about directing with kids, as he stated "Before we went on floor, I was skeptical about shooting with the kids. I thought it would be very challenging. But to my surprise, all the kids were extremely hard working and dedicated. They always used to come on set all prepared with the lines and that made the shoot a lot easy. Rehearsing with them during the pre-production stage also helped to prepare them well for the shoot. Saxena said that he was skeptical about shooting with the kids before the show went on the floor."[5]
Soundtrack
edit| Yeh Meri Family | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Vaibhav Bundhoo, Rohit Sharma, Simran Hora, Nilotpal Bora, Ishan Das | |||||
| Released | 22 July 2018 | ||||
| Genre | Soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 28:07 | ||||
| Language | Hindi | ||||
| Label | The Viral Fever | ||||
| |||||
The series' soundtrack album is composed by Vaibhav Bundhoo, Rohit Sharma, Simran Hora, Nilotpal Bora and Ishan Das with lyrics written by Hussain Haidry, Vaibhav Bundhoo, Swapnil Tiwari and Manoj Kumar Nath.[6]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aisi Hai Hawa" | Hussain Haidry, Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Udit Narayan | 02:51 |
| 2. | "Yeh Meri Family" | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo, Kavya-Kriti | 01:37 |
| 3. | "Bhoolein Na Hum" | Hussain Haidry | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Shashwat Singh | 02:00 |
| 4. | "Maa" | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo, Archana Dosija, Nigah Mallya and Simran Hora | 02:42 |
| 5. | "Devi(L) Maa" | Swapnil Tiwari | Rohit Sharma | Rinku Giri | 02:20 |
| 6. | "Shararatein" | Swapnil Tiwari | Rohit Sharma | Arun Dev | 03:00 |
| 7. | "Mere Mehram" | Manoj Kumar Nath | Simran Hora | Javed Ali | 04:05 |
| 8. | "Dil Ki Baaton Mein" | Swapnil Tiwari | Rohit Sharma | Arun Dev | 02:58 |
| 9. | "Dhaaga" | Hussain Haidry | Nilotpal Bora, Ishan Das | Nilotpal Bora | 03:52 |
| 10. | "Yeh Khwaab Hai" | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo | Vaibhav Bundhoo | 02:39 |
| Total length: | 28:07 | ||||
Release
editThe Viral Fever announced four new series on 23 June 2018, with Yeh Meri Family being one of them.[7] The official trailer was presented by TVF through their YouTube channel on 28 June 2018.[8] The first two episodes of the series was released simultaneously through TVF Play and YouTube on 12 July 2018.[9] The remaining episodes were later released on 20 July 2018.[10] It has since been made available for streaming on Netflix.[11] The second season was released on Amazon miniTV on 18 May 2023. The third season released on 4 April 2024, with the fourth season releasing on 16 August 2024.
Reception
editYeh Meri Family opened to positive response from critics, who appreciated the series' use of nostalgia and the performances of the cast.[12] Firstpost critic Shreya Paul, wrote in her review stating that "With a strong cast and seemingly strong content, Yeh Meri Family may surprise audiences with its ordinary brilliance."[13] Writing for Scroll.in, Sowmya Rao stated "Yeh Meri Family's strong point is the way it captures the essence of the ’90s, a time when India was on the cusp of economic, social and cultural change. That conflict between old and new infused an inter-generational dynamic exclusive to that era, which is aptly reflected in Harshu's relationship with his parents."[14] Rahul Desai of Film Companion wrote "Yeh Meri Family becomes a series that doesn't demand our complete attention. It occasionally counts on the fact that we can drift away, recall similar observations from our own heydays and seamlessly return to the household as an organic extension of those memories."[15]
References
edit- ^ "Yeh Meri Family". Spotify. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Tiwari, Manas (25 July 2018). "For TVF, Yeh Meri Family was always about bringing people closer to their family roots, says director Sameer Saxena". The Financial Express. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Mona Singh introduces us to Yeh Meri Family". Rediff. 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Shekhar, Mimansa (26 July 2018). "Akarsh Khurana: Yeh Meri Family has a well-written story with relatable characters". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ "For TVF, Yeh Meri Family was always about bringing people closer to their family roots, says director Sameer Saxena - The Financial Express". www.financialexpress.com. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "TVF's Yeh Meri Family - Soundtrack". iTunes. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ New Web Series Announcement | TVF's Yeh Meri Family | 12th July on TVFPlay, 23 June 2018, archived from the original on 16 December 2020, retrieved 23 February 2021
- ^ TVF Yeh Meri Family | Official Trailer | Watch all 7 episodes on TVFPlay, 28 June 2018, archived from the original on 17 February 2021, retrieved 23 February 2021
- ^ "The Viral Fever partners with AMFI for dramedy web series 'Yeh Meri Family'". Exchange4Media. 2 July 2018. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Shekhar, Mimansa (26 July 2018). "Yeh Meri Family actor Mona Singh: Enjoyed playing a mother because you miss such real characters on TV". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ "Yeh Meri Family". Amazon Prime. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Shekhar, Nishant (23 July 2018). "TVF's Yeh Meri Family: This nostalgic trip teaches the importance of siblings". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Paul, Shreya (20 July 2018). "Yeh Meri Family review: TVF show is a compelling, fun trip down memory lane for the proverbial '90s kids". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Rao, Soumya (4 August 2018). "TVF's 'Yeh Meri Family' is a meandering but endearing trip down memory lane". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Desai, Rahul (25 July 2018). "Yeh Meri Family Review: About Time". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.