TVF Pitchers Review: Episode Five “Where Magic Happens”

Whoa! What an episode. I must say this was one of the greatest things to ever appear on any media, let alone internet shows. I doubt anyone could ever make a series like TVF Pitchers and execute it so beautifully. This was even better than Permanent Rommates finale or any other episode of Pitchers itself. So lo and behold, the best episode yet. And that’s when we’re talking about a series whose each and every episode is crafted with so much heart and hardwork that all of them are standalone masterpieces in their own right. TVF Pitchers is the perfect example of how one show can get better and better as more and more of it unfolds.

This time we found Mandal as the star of the episode and saw a never seen before side of Jeetu (a much much more fun side). The episode started with how things were left with the previous episode with the guy securing a meeting with Puneet, who works for a venture capitalist firm. Now we see how Puneet is now tied with our guys as his own promotion depends on their success. He likes the idea and everyone else at the firm also likes it but funding needs the final approval of Ankit Bhardawaj, a senior partner at a firm. A man who is known to have the Midas touch when it comes to investments and has a reputation to pick up the most successful startups and those who get rejected by him don’t usually get funding from anywhere else around. Despite all this, Ankit is quite a calm and rational person though teensy bit arrogant but yeah he’s no villain. He’s a neutral character who just wants to get the worth of his investment and maximize his gain like any other investor but unlike many others he sees the potential in Naveen and the gang’s product. But the dilemma he faces is whether to invest in these guys or the one’s who presented the same, exact same thing to him few days ago. Now deep within he might also know that the guys who pitched earlier were fraud yet he wishes to make the most profitable investment regardless of where he’s investing in. Now this was a really unexpected twist which brings back one of the craziest characters to be introduced in the show, The Dungeon Master aka Jeetu’s replacement coder. Now he stole their idea, their sales pitch and revenue model and presented it before them. But to start with he wasn’t the only suspect.

To explain this we need to go into the beginning. The episode starts with Mandal feeling very low over his status in the startup and how others treat him disrespectfully. He was venting all this with his new friend Ravi Ram Rastogi over a few drinks. But, unintentionally, Mandal reveals that all their work is stored in a single flash drive which he always carry. This ignites the diabolical mind of Ravi Ram and he gets Mandal drunk and steals the flash drive. When our heroes get to know what had happened, Ravi becomes their prime suspect but naturally he’s out of reach now. This makes Yogi to snap at Mandal and he leaves them. But soon a call from Puneet confirms that Bhardwaj met someone with an email ID- dungeon_master a few days back. This proves beyond all doubt that it was none other than Yogi’s contact who cheated them in the end. Oh how should I describe the scene when they re-enter the Dungeon Master’s evil lair. Through that eerie hallway to that single door which opens into an oblivion of malicious darkness with 17 year geeks laughing at Jeetu and Yogi after stealing the idea of a lifetime and saying it to their faces that there isn’t anything that they could do about it. This scene, which was so remarkably shot is both visually exciting and solid in terms of character development. After they tease Jeetu enough, he decides enough is enough. Jeetu who is always shown a mild mannered and peaceful human being who avoids any conflict whatsoever at any point and puts his family over everything else suddenly turns into this violent and terrifying beast who destroys the kids toys and leaves them shivering in their shorts. I must say, of all the magnificent things achieved in this show, this one scene got me the most excited. The adrenaline rush while watching Jeetu smash the computer screens was overwhelming.

Another major arc in this episode which was closed was the relationship of Shreya and Naveen. Shreya faces the difficult decision of choosing between Naveen and a dream job in London. But on Naveen’s advice, she chooses the latter. Their chemistry and the loss of separation is really quite apparent in the very convincing performance of Manvi Gagroo. If these two don’t make you cry then I don’t know what else will. Talking about emotional scenes, Mandal rises from the ashes he left behind as the savior of the team when Ankit Bhardwaj refuses to invest as the other team his offering him a much better deal. Mandal swooshes in with his metaphorical cape and very literal Band-Aid on the neck. Here, he presents a very touching presentation about all the things these four have done and the sacrifices they made in order to make progress with their dream project. And at the end when Mandal tries to strong-arm Ankit Bhardwaj, that was very impressive display of confidence from someone like Mandal.

So this was it. They did it. TVF made a show which was inspiring, fun and really thoughtful which successfully completed its first ever season. A season which redefined everything. Now next year if the hype for season 2 is not as much as the next season of Game Of Thrones itself, then frankly I’d be disappointed in the audience. This time they delivered an episode which was so emotionally compelling yet visually exhilarating. The stakes were high, ties were tested, things were broken but all in a very light, realistic and thus convincing tone. What makes Pitchers unique is this very fact- showing hardships in the lightest way. Making the viewers believe that persistence is power and is no easy task, believe me but TVF Pitchers succeed eloquently in doing so and that too almost effortlessly through the subtle emotions and fluid background score and above all, flawless writing. If this isn’t a smart series in the urban tongue then the phrase holds no meaning. 

TVF Pitchers Review: Episode Four- “Bulb Jalega Boss”

This episode was equal parts entertaining and brilliant. This time the Pitchers attended another event which would help them find potential investors for their startup. The difference this time being nothing except not having any offer lurking on their heads now. This was their only chance of getting funds. Jeetu struggled with problems at home and was still unavailable to help his friends out but finally saw light at the end. Naveen’s vengeful boss resurfaces adding to their plight and they try to execute an ocean’s eleven like plan to gain entry into the event to pitch their idea.

So it goes with turbulence at Jeetu’s home. His father is still at home and he is facing the dilemma of whether or not to tell his father. Just like most Indian kids Jeetu lives in perpetual fear of his father. His father, like most parents, believe in a firm approach just because they care about their children so much and can’t bear to allow them to take risks in life that could potentially harm them. Although the right thing to do is to tell him all about his startup but Jeetu somehow couldn’t get his head around how to muster the courage to tell him. That’s where the wise wife Saumya steps in. Though it might be intentional to come clean in front of Jeetu’s father but she never wanted to reveal anything or say anything which would even slightly hurt anyone’s feelings or their relationship. But when she sees that Jeetu won’t be able to do it himself even in a thousand years, she tells his father. Even though very true to reality it was still hard to believe how long can Jeetu dance around the topic. It’s been already two episodes which is like a lot for a show which had to run only five episodes in this season. Naturally Saumya had to do something. And as expected, it infuriates his father who warns him about this decision and commands to look for another job in the same industry but this time Jeetu keeps the nerve to stand resolute and his father angrily leaves the home. Saumya blames herself for all this but Jeetu consoles her because deep down he knows that without her none of this would be possible and he’d still be stuck in his old job.

A still from "Bulb Jalega Boss"

On the other hand, things seem rather bleak for the remaining three Co-Founders as they are still unable to gain entry into the event without their complete team. This event also introduces some more funny characters like the other startup guys, Apoorva and Anitesh (the delightful freeloading founder of petpuja.com). One big blow to Naveen in this event was that one of the judges was his ex-boss Rajat Khanna. Now first they try to duck him but eventually figure out that he might be their only ticket to get on the train to bag investors. Though in the process they device an amazing Ocean’s Eleven style plan to enter by changing Jeetu’s photo ID in the computer with someone else’s who they can bring along easily (in this case ChaCha). However, when they actually try it, things don’t really go their way. Infact, things don’t really go anywhere as the plan is thwarted in the first stage itself but it leads to their encounter with Rajat. Now Rajat can easily allow them in and to a point one is also lead to believe that he might actually be good person afterall but he puts forth an impossible to fulfill condition infront of our protagonists. They must get written approval of each and every team before presenting their idea. Now those of you who are a little unaware of the corporate societal hierarchy, let me just say it, each and every one related to the business world in any way is a vengeful, vindictive and vile self-centered prick with almost no regard for anyone else’s interest especially if they intersect with their own. Maybe the whole world’s crazy. Don’t know what went wrong and where I decided to be left behind. So coming back to the show, essentially, no one accepts to allow them to present. Not even Anitesh, who’s a college friend to our boys and is in no way interested in any investor. But what can I say, that’s just how it works.

Now Naveen, Yogi and Mandal made their way to the stage but cannot present their idea. So Naveen comes up with a heartfelt idea to market his own self instead of his idea. In his words,” Maybe I cannot present my idea but I still have my 5 minutes, don’t I? ”. Those five minutes turn out to be the most inspiring five minutes as yet of the whole show. And at the end a surprise cameo of Biswapati Sarkar as Puneet surfaces as knocking opportunity in front of our lead pack. So in the end, things do kinda have a way of finding a way out themselves.

A still from "Bulb Jalega Boss"

One of the key strengths of the show is that how inspiring it is without being explicitly trying to be that way. But this time it did, for a short while though, but that only added to the glow of the already brightest star in the sky.TVF Pitchers delivered another solid episode with a great mix of music, fun and characters. But now things are took more of a streamlined shape as except the funding there’s no major hurdle left. Jeetu is fully on their side and all villains are out of the way. It would be really interesting to see where things go from here in the finale because except the meeting with Puneet, there’s nothing much that could happen but still Pitchers have a way of surprising its audience with simple but utterly refreshing and witty scenarios. So keep your fingers crossed and wait eagerly for the season finale and hope our heroes finally land a deal. "Bulb toh jala hai boss, bulb toh jala hi hai."