Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd. review: Amruta Subhash is the soul of this affirmative, coming-of-age series

The Zee5 original series Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd., starring Amruta Subhash and Anup Soni, examines a woman’s struggle to come into her own and stand on her own feet.

Created by Arunabh Kumar and Apoorv Singh Karki, directed by Karki and written by Abhishek Srivastava and Swarnadeep Biswas, the series is the first original to be created by Zee5 in partnership with The Viral Fever.

Set in the historic bylanes of Old Delhi, Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd. revolves around Suman (Amruta Subhash), who struggles to earn a living by setting up a homegrown pickle business. As she embarks on her entrepreneurial journey, her sole intention is to be able to provide for her two children, so that she can get them back from her ex-husband Dilip (Soni). As an illiterate woman with no real-world experience, her journey is an uphill one and the options are few, but she is aided in her struggle by her ex-mother-in-law (Yamini Das), her greatest source of strength.

Although Suman’s journey is one that we have seen depicted several times before, what makes this series stand apart is its depiction of interpersonal relationships. Dilip leaves Suman to get married to Manisha (Anjana Sukhani), but, thankfully, she does not turn out to be the archetypal stepmother. Instead, she is caring towards Suman and Dilip’s children, understanding of the mother-in-law’s antics, and even tries to build a relationship with her husband’s ex-wife. Similarly, the relationship between Suman and her ex-mother-in-law is portrayed beautifully with the two being each other’s support system.

The pacing of the show lags in places and there is little room for subtlety in this drama where easy solutions are found to potentially crippling hurdles, making it a bit contrived. For example, Suman finds an innovative solution for a huge setback and her son’s drug usage seems to be forgotten in a bid to move towards a happy ending. Despite this, the affirmative, coming-of-age, feel-good series is glued together effectively by the strong performances of the cast, especially those of Amruta Subhash and Yamini Das.

Amruta depicts the struggles and loneliness of a single mother trying to eke out a living for herself, and portrays the moments of doubt earnestly. Das is the fun, in-your-face old woman who brooks no nonsense from anyone and is the perfect foil to her daughter-in-law’s innocence about the ways of the world. An unapologetic woman of action, she is a joy to watch as she bulldozes her way through situations.

Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd. is now streaming on Zee5.