TVF Pitchers Review: Episode Three- “The Jury Room”

This episode was comparably more serious than any of the episodes we’ve seen yet. We finally saw Jeetu’s scary Dad and quite easily I can empathize with him for not being too bold in front of his father. Maybe the best thing about this episode was the emotional gravity it carried. This one had less funny moments, fewer weird camera angles and maybe even lacked more experimental music but none of this can be counted as the cons for a show which redefines its core values and almost shape-shifts with not only each episode but even when encircling every individual characters' life style; their fears, ambitions and responsibilities.

Like every episode, more brilliant characters were introduced this time around like Jeetu’s dad who had a screen presence without being physically on screen but through Jeetu’s frightened expressions which were embodied in this episode in the firm and arrogant Sunil Sinha who played Jitu’s father. He wasn’t really like the abusive father in Udaan but was a more believable and generally normal father who had a daunting control over his son. Yeah one can’t mistake him for being a villain or a negative presence but simply a figure who instills fear in his son so much so that he refuses to communicate with him in matters of his life decisions and often requires his wife to support him or intervene in a way. His wife by the way is just as cool as ever, just like when she was introduced. She’s like Jitu’s partner in crime and always has his back. But we didn’t see much of her in this episode though it was enough to forever etch her in our minds as a likable character.

Maanvi Gagroo as Shreya in "The Jury Room"

Infact, both the female companions of our leads are strong, independent and equally awesome characters. Shreya played by the charming Maanvi Gagroo is also a very significant part of the story as Naveen’s oasis in the deserted world of start-ups. When he’s feeling really really upset about the status of their company and the lack of funding or investors then she doesn’t flips everything around nor comes over-dramatically to the rescue of her depressed boyfriend but calmly reminds him that no matter what happens, she’ll always believe in him and even he doesn’t have too much leisure time these days he still should entertain the possibility of a clichéd vacation. But Naveen, as much as he loves her, advises her to focus on her career instead of thinking about indulging in frivolous activities just because he’s caught up in something tedious. Their relationship is both playful and heartwarming. One moment you admire them for being so well connected with each other and just the next instant you’ll be crying over how adorable this couple actually is. At moments like these when you see those two, you can’t help but miss your own significant other (and the other single fans out there, share in the lamenting with me).

Many more great minor characters were seen this time like Ravi Ram Rastogi, the start-up veteran currently working on securing funding for his 8^th consecutive start-up (last 7 were failures).  He was introduced to show our boys their future if their idea doesn’t works. How miserable their lives could turn out to be if they end up like Ravi, a superstitious divorced and financially unstable man who shares his 2-bhk apartment with 8 more roommates. He is like the physical form of all their worries related to their future. He’s the answer to the banging question they ask themselves every few hours-“What if this doesn’t work out?”. His position is uncannily similar to theirs as well. He explains how he was about to get funding for a startup years earlier but how his CEO didn’t want to share control over their company. The same dilemma Naveen, Jitu, Yogi and Mandal are facing right now as Gary Bhujiawala, another great addition, who wants 51% equity as against 10 times their asking price for fueling their startup.

Gary Bhujiawala, played by Rajesh Sharma, The Mahabharata obsessed opulent businessman who projects himself as their savior and wants to diversify his operations thus willing to invest in their business idea. The man whose offer lingers as a sword on our entrepreneurs' head. He is what one may call a villain. Well not necessarily a Dr.Dang type person but still a guy who comes in disguise of a rescuer but is just looking for self-interest like a symbiotic plant and won’t hesitate in causing harm to the host once his purpose is fulfilled. Nevertheless, he still is offering a lot (10 times) of money which is too great an offer to reject without thought.

Other great minor characters were the other investors, including the NRI investor, the angry disobedient one, and the stingy ones. Also the feminist entrepreneur and the sarcastic registration desk girl were pretty neat inclusions as well.

The eponymous jury room was also a great reveal as a place where Naveen listens to his heart and has resulted in great choices in the past. Even though the decision made in the jury room is to a certain extent a matter of chance but Naveen's interesting theory of hearing the voice of intuition at the time of a toss was a nice turnaround which surprised the viewers as much as it did his friends. 

A still from "The Jury Room"

The story progressed very well on emotional level in this episode. We saw the characters grow with each hurdle and emerging victorious not in the way of accomplishments but learning lessons in self-worth without losing even a pinch of passion. So our heroes successfully swayed through another challenge without bowing down to anyone, though without securing funding which is a major problem now but as Churchill famously said,” Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”. As for the show, success is going from episode to episode without losing quality which is exactly what the TVF team is doing with this brilliant show.