Adult comedies are a tricky matter. The director and the writers must ensure the movie or television show does not become crass or risqué to the point being unbearable. They have to avoid making it cringeworthy too. Only a few films in this genre have succeeded: Hunterrr, starring Gulshan Devaiah, and Vicky Donor, starring Ayushman Khurana. These two films pushed the boundaries of adult comedies by discussing a subject that was hardly touched upon in the past. The Kya Kool Hai Hum and the Masti series of films are examples of how an adult comedy is not to be served to the audience. Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper, the Netflix India original, is about a middle-aged man who ends up in a dire financial situation and has to look for alternative ways to make extra income for his family. This nine-part series was created by Puneet Mishra and released on the streaming platform on July 18, 2024.
The show is about Tribhuvan Mishra, who is a CA Topper, as the title suggests, but lives the simple, uncomplicated life of a government officer. He has a wife and two children who look up to him for being an honest government official who refuses to take any bribe from any rich businessman. His wife Ashoklata is trying hard to get some steady income from baking cakes on order. She and Tribhuvan lead a healthy sex life and she has assured him many times that he is great at making love. Tribhuvan’s brother-in-law, Shubham, is a street-smart man who is married to Shobha, and they are two peas in a pod. The couple is always trying to find a way to earn extra income to lead a good life in Noida. Teeka Ram Jain is a gangster who runs a small mafia with his famous sweet shop as the front. Teeka Ram is a traditionalist whose wife, Bindi Jain, seems to be unsatisfied with their marital life. Bored and constantly criticized for being a certain way, Bindi seeks a way to keep herself happy. A bank scam that erases all of Tribhuvan’s savings forces him to get into the world of solicitation since he believes he is good in bed. He gets in touch with a professional male prostitute, who initially helps him learn the ropes. Tribhuvan uses the pseudonym ‘CA Topper,’ and soon becomes in demand and begins to earn good money out of it. Did Tribhuvan enjoy the new stream of income coming his way? Does he get involved with someone well-connected? Does he get into that could jeopardize his family life?
Each episode of the show has a runtime of fifty minutes to one hour, and in that time frame, the writers jammed in too many subplots, which only made the narrative of the entire show messy. The show is a black comedy that addresses systematic corruption in government offices, the topic of sex and sexuality, and the stress on societal values that prevents people from living life the way they want. The intent of the show is brilliant, as it paints a picture of the lives of many housewives who do not lead a sexually gratifying life, and whose husbands hardly cater to their needs in the bedroom. The issue lies in the technicality of the film, which has a majorly flawed screenplay.
Writer-director Puneet Mishra and Amrit Raj Gupta try to fit in way too many subplots in each episode, which leads to the makers abandoning half of them as the series reaches the climax. This is just an example of bad storytelling, as too many things are happening at a time and the structure of the narrative falls apart by the third episode. There are subplots about gang rivalry and how Tribhuvan gets embroiled in it. There is no clarity on what is happening, as one of the gang wants to help Tribhuvan, and the chaos that follows is unbearable after a point. The show began at a high point, but storytelling just started to decline, and eventually, there was no coming back. There is another subplot involving a murder investigation. The humor just does not land in most parts of this subplot, and after a point, the narrative is so bland that it is only a waste of talented actors who are performing well, but the material given to them is not sufficient. The subplot involving Tribhuvan’s mother-in-law is unnecessary as it only adds to the run time of the show. The screenplay drags to the point where many subplots do not have a conclusive ending. It also took eons for the writers to reach the central theme of the show, which is Tribhuvan turning into a male prostitute to earn extra income for his family.
Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper has numerous plot holes that are easy to point out across the nine episodes. Tribhuvan Mishra is accessing adult websites from his office without anyone noticing, which is the most unbelievable part of the show. Tribhuvan is also known to be physically active with his wife from the start of the show, but halfway through, he loses interest, and his wife has no qualms about it as he spends night after night on the computer waiting for messages from women. This seems like an improbable situation, and the makers barely try to address this part of the story. Another issue with recent filmmakers is them showing the modern woman as someone who smokes cigarettes, which is a harmful stereotype that needs to end. A gay love story in the end only feels like a forced narrative, and it serves no purpose in the climactic portions of the show as it only makes it clunky and disorderly.
The ending of Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper doesn’t leave you half as satisfied as it did the CA Topper’s clients. It is a giant mess and further creates confusion. It is bound to leave the audience frustrated, as the show promised something good, but it ended up becoming unnecessarily tangled. Each episode could have been 20 minutes shorter, and it wouldn’t have needed nine episodes to showcase the plight of the characters. The screenplay does not talk about the repercussions of the mistakes people made from the start, which means there is no end to the arc of any character, including the lead of the show. The show empowers women by showcasing how they explore their need for physical intimacy outside of their marriage. On the other hand, the two main female leads are hardly given anything to work with, especially Tribhuvan’s wife, Ashoklata. Tribhuvan’s colleague Lalitaji is an interesting character, but the makers hardly gave her character any depth. Shubham’s wife, Shobha, is given a stellar action scene, but it is completely pointless at that stage of the show.
Since the screenplay is flawed, the directors could not hold the narrative tight, even though there are some interesting decisions taken when it comes to some characters and comedy scenes. The humor works in some places, but many scenes in the latter part of the show did not make sense. The humor could have been the highlight of the show if the writers were not trying to fit too many things into the show. Overindulgence is a bad thing, and it did go out of hand by the end. The direction goes out of the window in the second half of the show, and there is no turning back for Puneet Mishra and Amrit Raj Gupta. The makers did good work putting forward the middle-class nuances of families who are struggling to meet their ends. The production quality of the show is interesting, making the entire setup look retro. Some characters try to bring about changes in their lives for the better, which is a welcome change. Male characters crying and women standing up for themselves and saving the people they love are both interesting additions to the screenplay. It is sensible of the makers to include the subject of emotional abuse in a relationship.
The performances of the leads could be taken into consideration as something that kept the show afloat for as long as it could. Manav Kaul is excellent as Tribhuvan Mishra, but his character on paper is flaky, and there is nothing much Manav as an actor could add to it. Naina Sareen is a good actor, but she is given nothing to work around other than championing her husband all the time. Shweta Prasad, as Shobha Pathak, is brilliant as a conniving sister-in-law, but again, just like others, she is hardly given anything to work on. Tilotima Shome is sadly wasted in a role that was meant for her. There is no clarity on the relationship she shared with her distant husband. Her character is betrayed on the writing level itself, and it lacks chemistry with her partners. Shubrajyoti Barat, as Teeka Ram Jain, is brilliant from the start until the end as the confectioner who is a ruthless gangster. He comes across as having typical masculine energy, and the arc takes a turn as he tries to please his wife. Jatin Gulati plays Vineet Kumar, a male prostitute and gym instructor who gets embroiled in a crime along with Tribhuvan. We wish he was given more time to work on his comedy, as his timing is brilliant.
Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper had a lot of potential, but sadly, it became a giant bowl of disarray with no end in sight.
