Principal Cast: Hiya Dey, Smriti Singh, Debadrita Basu, Oindrilla Bose, Arnab Banerjee, Kushal Chakraborty, Bidipta Chakraborty 

Director: Pijyushkanti Ghosh

Genre: Social Drama

OTT Platform: ZEE5

Background:

In this lockdown, as I am exploring different flavors of art and drama, while searching for some classic viewing material, I came across an interesting series “Alo Chhaya” a Bangla show streaming at ZEE5. My mother has her roots from Bengal and we occasionally bump into some Bangla movie and series to just help her reconnect with her regional memories, and we ended up watching this Bengali drama.

And I was also happy to learn that we can have access to the entire ZEE5 content library on 5 different screens at the same time, which is great.

Alo Chhaya narrates the bond of two little girls, who are distinct yet deeply connected. Alo means light and Chhaya means the shadow and that’s how exactly their relationship becomes with the events of life.

Alo’s character represents an orphan child who comes to stay with her uncle and aunt and that’s where she meets her cousin sister Chhaya. Chhaya is a fun-loving, cheerful, and emotional person and as they start to bond together she becomes dependent on Alo for many things.

Alo on the other hand is a sensible, intelligent, and very sincere girl, whose life is filled with light but gets shadowed by one small decision of living the identity of her cousin, Chhaya. She becomes the torch-bearer for Chhaya. Alo performs exceptionally well in her academics, whereas Chhaya is not able to connect with her academics and wants to enjoy doing other things.

The plot takes a steep turn when Chhaya’s father urges Alo to pursue studies on her behalf and bring laurels at home. As an obliged child, she becomes the happy face of Chhaya and passes on all her achievements to her. As she allows her to enjoy all her hard-earned fruits, she had to step back on various occasions when it came to recognizing her efforts. Two girls, two different personalities, will growing-up under Chhaya’s shadow come at a cost for Alo?

Alo Chhaya is a drama series consisting of 216 episodes and it could resonate with many household arrangements. The story holds its own beauty of depicting the strong and protective bond of two girls in their life. It also depicts a mirror of society, how education has become a commodity of privileged, and how it’s absence causes parents to take certain steps.

It shows how parent’s actions lays the strong foundation is a child’s development, whether the road is easy or tough ahead but when a child is not given the freedom to explore , he might get lost in between. When a child is not given due credits of his efforts he might never taste how real contentment feels like.

The makers of the series have put their best effort into putting up content that addresses a lot of real-life drama. Selfish parenting to societal pressure, to an urge of a better life in their own zone, it sums up all.

These reviews are a part of my small attempt to promote regional content or any content which can get noticed by its right audience because the audience could be anywhere 🙂 #EntertainmentUnlocked

Also read: Ghoomketu Movie Review- ZEE5

Watch the series to understand how societal norms control our thoughts and actions. How educations are important and how parenting brings its own set of challenges. Lastly, watch it for Alo who consumes all the darkness yet shines brighter with her charm. Watch the strong and caring bond between Alo and Chhaya, complete story on ZEE5 now.

Thank you

Priyanka Nair