This seven-part Netflix series gave the impression of scripting on the go, as if they kept the camera rolling while they they were thinking up the next episode. More bore burn than slow burn. The series felt, tacky, amateurish and unevenly paced. The scenes and settings lacked energy, dramatic tension and power.  Almost every sequence had a lazy or half-hearted, under-invested and unconvincing feel to it. Many characters just landed in the scene with a backstory that couldn’t fill up a calling card. Characters and relationships remained under-developed. Actors appeared tired/jaded and not very invested in their roles.

The dialogues were pedestrian and often the mood of the moment was in the intonation of the chosen expletive. A line here and a line there evoked a chuckle. Also, it seems quite fashionable to slip in some progressive lines—will they be noticed or will they not? Am I the only one who noticed?!

Rajkumar Rao did his best—innocent and quirky. Dulquer Salmaan too promised much and is obviously very talented, but the role didn’t challenge him much. Adarsh Gourav did quite okay too, but seemed to try too hard to fit the part. The women—the wife and the teacher were promising, but remained wedged in supporting roles.

School sequences were over-done in the context of the series, and barely had any relevance or role in developing the main story line. By itself, the school as a setting to present the world of young teens in up-country locations—cliques, rivalry, boy–girl relations, infatuations/teacher-fixations, the old-style teaching and class management—had potential for a dedicated series. The kids did a good job.

Overall, it was Mirzapur with some variation in detail—small-town feel, the takeover and parallel administration of villages/towns by gangs (opium this time instead of guns), close associates/loyalists turning into rivals and marking their territory, the second generation wanting to emerge from the shadows of the first, and their approval-seeking crazed antics, the urge to avenge the death of dear ones…

It was crazy and comic in parts. But to label the series as a comedy, dark or light, is pushing it.

As an aside: The two-in-one cassette player evoked memories of my own adolescence. The first model we ever had (a Panasonic) was the very same. Many a tape from those times stored in my memory started playing with minds of their own. The classroom, the schoolboy bonding and squabbles, and the attractions, distractions and tensions of a co-ed environment reminded me of my early years in Gorakhpur. The lending library was such an integral part of my growing up and I remembered the Irving Wallace in an instant. The Seven Minutes was my introduction to the debate on pornography, obscenity and the law that regulated both in the US. I think I was 15 at the time.

Available to stream on Netflix.