Netflix ‘Kota Factory’ Season 3 Review - This TVF Production is Literal-Minded

It's funny how literal-minded Kota Factory is. I remember a shot from I don't exactly know which season where Vaibhav (Mayur More) is seen walking in the opposite direction of the crowd of students exiting a campus. Why? Because a few minutes before this moment, someone tells him to be different or something like that. Kota Factory's visual language is so simple that it looks dumb and pedestrian. This streak continues in the third season and reveals itself immediately during the opening moments of Episode 1 when a wall seepage is connected to Jeetu Bhaiya's (Jitendra Kumar) turmoil. When he thinks he is feeling fine, the seepage disappears. Later, when the internal issue reappears, the seepage, too, makes an appearance. You cover your face with your hands when a man suggests that Jeetu can either change his home or keep repainting his wall. The reason for the embarrassment stems from our knowledge regarding the character's confusion: Should he move to Jaipur or continue teaching students in Kota?

A TVF production thrives on on-the-nose behavior. They spell out every emotion for the viewers, maybe because they think their audiences are as simple-minded as their creations. The TVF factory is adept at converting unsubtlety into an aesthetic and narrative choice. They aggressively ride on the wave of good intentions because that's all they can offer us. In Kota Factory Season 3, director Pratish Mehta takes this tradition forward. He fills his canvas with love and warmth, but beneath the sugary sentiments, there is an abundance of unimaginative filmmaking choices. When a character says, "Dream dekhe jaate hai, aim achieve kiye jaate hai," the camera moves closer to him to underline the "greatness of this thought." It wants us to clap for this character as well as praise the writer who came up with this dialogue. The movement of the camera towards the character is equivalent to a compliment like "Waah!" or "Shabaash!" When Vaibhav, in one of the episodes, starts ranting about the exam timetable, the camera begins to circle around this character in a way that suggests the building of a storm. It's an okayish and obvious trick for such a situation.

Kota Factory Season 3, like previous seasons, aims to impress us with silly, superficial touches (we see the class from the perspective of a whiteboard, and all the students turn their pages simultaneously to accentuate that this is indeed a factory). The one thing that comes across as unbearable is the motivational speeches. Season 3 is so determined to inspire the audiences that it highlights "crucial things" with a verbal marker. One inspiring speech extinguishes Vaibhav's jealousy towards his IPL-playing brother. One lecture (and some money) from Jeetu Bhaiya solves Meena's (Ranjan Raj) troubles. Another "eye-opening" lecture changes Vaibhav's attitude toward his girlfriend, Vartika (Revathi Pillai). I have put eye-opening in quotations because Vaibhav and Vartika's issue is so apparent you feel like putting Meena's glasses on Vaibhav. Sure, not everybody is able to detect what they are doing wrong, but this problem looks so stupid that it only reminds you how lazy the writers are (they link this point to a podcast where Jeetu Bhaiya shares his perspective regarding childish questions). Their lack of creativity is so high that you can easily guess where the story is headed. For instance, when we observe Vaibhav and Meena solving a question paper and at the same time Uday (Alam Khan) is seen drinking alcohol with a gaming partner, we (correctly) predict that something terrible is going to happen with the latter. When Shivangi's (Ahsaas Channa) academic fears are brushed aside by Vaibhav and Meena, you sense that she needs people from her own field because only they can fully understand her. Well, this is what the series ends up doing through that scene where she tells Uday to leave her so that she can join her new friends. These friends, however, disappear after the episode and are never mentioned again in the show. Why? Because Kota Factory Season 3 merely wanted to make an obvious point.

Kota Factory Season 3 gets into Jeetu Bhaiya's savior complex. He is confused about whether he should be a "Bhaiya" (be deeply involved with his students) or a "Sir" (be detached and focus more on himself). Jeetu goes to a therapist for answers because, you know, sometimes even a motivator needs to be motivated. The show, however, presents an unoriginal image of this doctor. This therapist, like most of her cinematic counterparts, smiles, politely nods, scribbles words in her notebook, and ultimately fails to offer a solid solution. She even narrates a story about a pigeon that serves as a lesson regarding communication, and you feel as if the story was taken from a WhatsApp forward, which again tells you more about this show's writers (Puneet Batra, Pravin Yadav, Nikita Lalwani, and Manish Chandwani).

The appeal of Kota Factory entirely lies in the performances. Jitendra Kumar has a pleasant, saint-like countenance, which infuses credibility into the student's love for this teacher. He gives a cordial layer to the stodgy dialogues. All the young actors effectively bring out the rage, the passion, the dedication that the students put into their studies so that they can pass the exams with flying colors. The scene where Vaibhav arrives at the wrong exam center and then hurries towards the right destination is nerve-racking to watch because this nightmare is too familiar to us. I smiled when another student at the exam center offered his water bottle to Vaibhav. Only someone who has walked into your shoes can understand you better. This is why a politician offers Jeetu Bhaiya a position at the Ministry of Education so that the educational infrastructure could be improved for all, and that too by someone who knows the pulse of the students. There are many news reports concerning an increase in suicide cases in Kota. According to Kota Factory Season 3, the students are doing their best, and the teachers (at least those who are as good as the ones in AIMERS) are doing whatever they can, but the people who control the education system need to do a lot of work. Stop celebrating ranks; the stress is already too much. It's high time we start seeing the students as flesh and blood humans, not profit-making machines for coaching classes.

Final Score- [4.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times