Never Have I Ever (2020): Seen myself on a Netflix TV show!

Let me first admit the fact that I finished watching the whole season within 24 hours of its release because that’s how excited I was for this show. Over the past week I have had multiple discussions with several groups of people regarding this show. I’ve tried to make my thoughts as concise as possible so sit tight and read on.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Viswanathan in the show.

When I heard Mindy Kaling was creating a RomCom with a Tamil teen as the lead, I was thrilled. RomComs are right up my alley and to have one of my favourite comedians in the world to create it - WOW.

Never Have I Ever (2020) definitely sets out to achieve what it wants to. To be a formulaic romantic comedy. My friends, romantic comedies are meant to be formulaic - so technically I used a redundant word in my previous sentence. There’s the love triangle, cheesy confessions, even cheesier pick up lines, the initial rejections...everything! So when some of my friends were disappointed that this show was predictable and wasn’t ground breaking in terms of content, I had no issues with it. I watch a Julia Roberts movie and I expect the leading man to choose her at the end...That’s what a RomCom queen deserves. So when the show ended with the allusion that both Paxton and Ben were interested in Devi...that’s the love triangle I saw coming. But then why is this show important when there are 1000 other Romcoms out there dedicated to All The Boys you and I’ve Loved? It is important because Mindy Kaling chose an 18 year old dusky Tamil girl to be the lead. While Indian Cinema is still obsessed with White Washing it’s heroines, here we have an American show led by an actual dusky Tamil girl. So...Thank You Mindy.

There have been a lot of hullabaloos about some stereotypes being propagated in the show. Arranged Marriages. How dare Mindy portray Tamils/Indians as such traditional people who still believe in arranged marriages? HELLO! Arranged marriages still happen in the Indian community right? Then isn’t what she’s portraying just the reality? Why suddenly now everybody only have love marriages ah? No right? Then, why? I definitely agree that the whole arranged marriage plot line could’ve been handled better. But can we recognise the accuracies in the portrayal of those scenes too? The uncle who comes to the house to facilitate this “meeting” because there ALWAYS has to be a man in the household when discussing important matters and he steps in for Devi’s dad - who’s not there. Accurate representation of patriarchy? I think yes! Now the prospective groom - Prashant. Usually when arranged marriages are portrayed, they have a bespectacled dude enter the scene with his checkered shirt. Prashant fit none of those stereotypes...

Yes I agree his obsession with the variety of ice cream flavours was a little off putting but when you’re in a new country...almost anything can amuse you, trust me.

Now coming to the actors...I thought this show had a prolific cast! Maitreyi as Devi - the nerdy, quick-tempered and loud teenager who is in denial of her father’s death - is simply brilliant. While she may seem annoying in the beginning, you understand why she’s the way she is as the season progresses. Right from Devi to her mum & dad, her friends and even Ben’s mother played by Mindy’s Office co-star Angela Kinsey - everyone bring their best to the table. While the acting department was rather strong, the dialogue delivery was a little problematic. The show had a variety of accents for something that’s set in Southern California. Devi’s dad, for example, had a very British accent throughout the show. Kamala was quite confused herself at multiple points. Which part of India was she from and what accent was she supposed to speak in? My favourite characters were Devi’s mother and Devi herself. Poorna Jaganathan who plays Devi’s mother is someone I recognised as Ranbir’s friend in Paris from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Her relationship development with Devi was one of my favourite parts in the show.

Devi, Kamala and Nalini played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Richa Moorjani and Poorna Jagannathan

With that being said, I can’t forget the most important character in this show - Tamil! Every time Devi’s father said, “Kanna” and when her mother speaks briefly in Tamil...I scream internally. Movies and shows in the west have mostly represented Indian culture with individuals who speak Hindi. So when I finally hear a language I grew up with, I can’t explain the joy of feeling like I’m part of the narrative. When Devi’s dad says Thakkali instead of Thakkaali, I closed an eye. Because everything else about this Tamil family, I absolutely adored. Her mother’s disdain for the nosey aunties in religious gatherings, Devi’s inability to focus while praying (#relatable), Devi not feeling “Indian enough”...all these I have experienced at some point in my life. The most meta moment in this show was having Pragathi Guruprasad - a contestant from the Vijay TV show Super Singer Junior - loved by all Tamil Aunties, Uncles, teenagers and kids around the world!

Representing Indian culture on such a large scale is not something simple. You and I have very different experiences. Devi, a second generation American, would have a very different cultural identity compared to me - a Singaporean Indian. While, yes it is okay to criticise the show and speak about points it could improve on, it is also crucial that we recognise all that it has done right. So thank you Mindy for casting actors of Tamil origin for your leads.

Crazy Rich Asians erased a huge part of my country’s identity. Never Have I Ever has shone the light on a community that isn’t very often represented in Hollywood. We do have a long way to go but what Mindy and her team have done definitely isn’t an easy feat. We need more actors and creators to step forward and tell more of our stories. For that, you first have recognise and support those who have made that change and have set the ball rolling.

Random idea for Season 2 - Don’t you think it’ll be perfect if Shah Rukh Khan does the VO for the second season. Devi & Dad could’ve watched SRK movies together and you know, that would be a good back story too, yea?

Never Have I Ever (2020) is now streaming on Netflix.