Dil Dosti Dilemma Season 1 Review – Modern, yet traditional; a surprisingly well written YA drama

Episode Guide

Episode 1: “The Holiday”
Episode 2: “The Culture Shock”
Episode 3: “Making New Friends”
Episode 4: “Keeping Secrets”
Episode 5: “Tanker Rani”
Episode 6: “The Celebration”
Episode  7: “Saving Tibbri Road” ―| Rating – 3.5/5

Modern, yet traditional, a surprisingly well-written YA drama

There is certainly a lack of well-made teen romance comedies in India. With most of the attention given to genres like crime and action, young adults are left with a handful of options when it comes to shows catering to the young population. To fill that void, we have Amazon Prime Video’s latest 7-episode drama – Dil Dosti Dilemma (Translated as Love, Friendships, Dilemma).

The show narrates the story of Asmara, a high school student who is ready for her month-long trip to Canada. Asmara is part of the Awesome Threesome and friends with Naina and Tania, both girls who come from families as affluent as hers. After her mother, Arshiya, finds out that Asmara disrespected her mother in front of her friends, Arshiya sends Asmira to live with her mother while they take the trip to Canada.

Now Asmara, who has already told her friends about her trip to Canada, tries to keep up appearances when she moves in with her Naana and Naani (grandparents). Arshiya hopes that Asmara will learn to be humble while living with her grandparents while Asmara tries to find new ways to lie to her friends in order to keep up appearances in front of them. 

Dil Dosti Dilemma stars Anushka Sen, who has made a name for herself as a child actress and later transformed herself into a social media celebrity. This drama stars popular names from the Indian Cinema as well as the Indian television industry. From Tanvi Azmi to Shruti Seth, Shishir Sharma to Mahesh Thakur as well as Suhasini Mulay and Farida Dadi.

From a story perspective, Dil Dosti Dilemma is surprisingly well-written for a show that revolves around teenagers. The show talks about privilege and how teens feel entitled to the privileges they have received because of their parents’ hard work. With Asmara moving into a house that is located in a densely populated slum, she comes to realise that living in a gated community, wearing branded clothes and travelling in branded cars is not all that life is about.

The show also touches upon the existence of a generation gap between Asmara and Naani as the two characters get an insight into each other’s way of living. While on her part, Naani is right about dressing modestly in a place with prying eyes, Asmara wants to dress the way she likes without worrying about gossipmongers. We see an interesting and out-of-pocket cameo in this one and it gives hope for a story that could have been if this ever gets a spin-off. 

This show is full of popular names as actors and it was fun seeing Shruti Seth and Mahesh Thakur on the same show again, years after seeing them in the 2003 TV Show – Shararat. While the series does end on an abrupt note, there is hope for the makers to return with a second season. The show is a lightweight family watch and interesting for viewers who are teenagers. 

While some parts are completely skippable, Dil Dosti Dilemma is not another boring and badly written show. The characters are relatable and realistically written. This drama ends up becoming overachieving by the time it reaches the final episode with a bunch of kids trying to save an entire colony from being redeveloped.

Asmara is an interesting character to watch but Vishakha Pandey playing Rukhsana is a treat to the eye. The show is modern in the sense of the youngsters while traditional when it comes to the older characters. Dil Dosti Dilemma is a fun watch and hopefully could be coming back for another season shortly.