Looking for a new binge-worthy show to watch during lockdown? Look no further.
Mindy Kaling is familiar with paving the way for relatable, coming-of-age comedy. Shows such as The Mindy Project and The Office show her ability to balance humour and reflect real life. This time, Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher (producer for many comedy television golds including Brooklyn Nine-Nine) have released a new teenage rom-com series: Never Have I Ever the staring up-and-coming Indian-American actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as fifteen-year-old Devi Vishwakumar.
Dealing with grief, sexuality, race, disability and culture in a humorous but ‘woke’ way, Kaling and Fisher achieve this in an impressive four hours and 25 minutes. Challenging Hollywood’s Asian stereotypes in a graceful way, it is refreshing to see an Indian-American female lead who doesn’t have an Indian accent in order to tick a diversity box (sorry Big Bang Theory). The show follows Devi’s life shortly after her father’s death: showing the realness of processing grief. Being a self-conscious, emotion-driven high schooler, Devi looks to increase her popularity. Of course, the only way to do this is to get the attention of the hottest guy in school, heartthrob Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet).
After a warming heart-to-heart in the pilot, her therapist (Niecy Nash) exposes Devi’s inability to process her hurt. We connect with Devi and are excited to see her growth. But, she decides her solution is to ask Paxton to sleep with her, showing the essence of Devi’s character. Once you look past the fact that there is a ten-year age gap between actors Barnet and Ramakrishnan, the scenes with Paxton fulfil all of our young-adult romance fiction dreams.
The cinematography for Devi’s first on-screen encounter with Paxton sets the tone perfectly. The use of cross-lighting to create drama and interest reflects our suspense and shock at Devi’s boldness. Cinematographer Rhet Bear applies the same skill to this as he does with the romance movie The First Time, where the mood was set accurately through lighting and emotions were conveyed strikingly with close-ups. The story from here only gets more hilarious and ridiculous but the relatability of Devi and her situations makes it all the more heartwarming, leaving many of us in tears at the last episode.
With a subtle hint of social commentary as seen in Bend It Like Beckham and the humour of Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Never Have I Ever is the Californian 2020 version of our favourite British teenage rom-coms. Debuted on 27 April, the show has been well received by audiences across the world, finding itself at number one on Netflix across ten countries.
At first glance, Never Have I Ever is another cringe-teenage Netflix drama like Riverdale. Over-looking the bad jokes and over dramatised characters of Devi’s best friends Eleanor Wong (Ramona Young) and Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez), it doesn’t take long to see the depth of the show. Dealing with real issues and people that many can relate to and displaying representation naturally, it dives into exploring different cultures and families in an authentic way. Being one of the few shows where there are less than three white actors in the main cast, it is nice to see a narrative that doesn’t revolve around the issue of racism. Instead, it touches on issues we all may face despite race, culture or background. Although there is no confirmation of season two yet, it would be a crime not to let us deeper into the funny, tragic, embarrassing life of Devi Vishwakumar.
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