Four More Shots Please!
Creator: Rangita Pritish Nandy
Cast: Bani J, Maanvi Gagroo, Sayani Gupta, Kirti Kulhari

A millennial single mother, a bisexual gym trainer, a fantasy-driven journalist and a body-shamed Gujarati girl who's on the lookout for an ideal groom set the stage for Amazon Prime's web show Four More Shots Please!.

In the beginning, you think that you'd meet four distinct women who are going to be the vehicles of change and will present a new take on feminism. But all you get in the ten episodes is a mess that struggles to find its central theme. The protagonists are 'unapologetically flawed' but directionless. In the beginning, it appears to be a troubled take on feminism but eventually, it manages to explore sincere emotions and individual stories that rise above expensive booze and uncanny chatter among the girl gang.

Four More Shots Please! begins with Damini (Sayani Gupta) fantasising about making out with Milind Soman, her gynaecologist in her newsroom in the middle of a presentation. But in her real world, she is obsessed with the idea of saving journalism from gossip-hungry readers and has no time for men.

Second is Anjana (Kirti Kulhari), a divorced single mother who hasn't had sex ever since her four-year-old daughter was born. Meanwhile, her ex-husband (Neil Bhoopalam) has moved on in life and is looking for a relationship with Kavya (Amrita Puri). She takes the help of dating apps to find a company and finally ends with an intern much younger to her.

Siddhi (Maanvi Gagroo) portrays a chubby Gujju girl whose mother leaves no stone unturned to make her feel uncomfortable with her body and keeps on pestering her to find a rich man to get married to. Then comes rebellious Umang Singh (Bani J) who plays the role of a bisexual Ludhiana girl and a gym instructor in Mumbai.

It’s always good to see strong women taking the centre-stage and owning up to their flaws and desires but this shouldn’t come at the cost of the fluidity of the narrative. The show wants us to believe that the characters are ambitious but they hardly do anything to justify that. At a point, their strong-headedness, badass nature and unapologetic selves look forced and without any solid base.

For instance, Damini who is adamant to build a reader base comes across two girls chatting about her website and gossip articles on it. Eavesdropping their conversation, she budges in between and starts calling them names and bashes them for reading 'crap' on the website. Well, she is the editor-in-chief of that site and no articles would have been published without her permission.

Similarly, Maanvi who's body-shamed by her mother on several occasions goes on to seek validation from strangers by stripping over the webcam and swooning men online. Though her story doesn’t take any substantial turn. On the other hand, Umang never delves deep into the world of bisexuals and their conflicts.

The supporting cast has names like Milind Soman, Prateik Babbar, Simone Singh, Neil Bhoopalam and Lisa Ray, but they are confined to stereotypical roles. It feels like four very diverse leads and prominent supporting characters are underutilised.

To some extent, it appears a TV adaptation of Veere Di Wedding. Just like the film, the protagonists are always well dressed and despite drinking on all possible occasions and casual days they have absolutely no hangovers.

Having said that, there some heartwarming moments too. Watching these four friends get together may give you nostalgia. Four More Shots Please! has refreshing music as well. Mikey McCleary & Darshan Raval's compositions make the series enjoyable.

The makers have already teased the second season and we hope to see a better production next time.

Rating: 2/5