Sunjoy Waddhwa’s new show, Meri Bhavya Life, which is produced under his banner Sphereorigins, has taken the small screen by storm. It premiered on Colors on April 30 and airs every day on the channel at 7 PM. The show stands apart from the other shows on TV currently for its modern yet rooted narrative that deals with the issue of body shaming in Indian society.
The show revolves around Bhavya (played by Prisha Dhatwalia), an architecture trainee who is confident and comfortable in her own skin. Despite her achievements, she often faces societal rejection due to her weight. Her life takes a turn when she crosses paths with Rishank Jaiswal (Karan Vohra), a fitness enthusiast who only promotes slim and skinny physiques.
The first episode begins with Bhagya’s podcast, Motivated, where she tells the listeners how she has been rejected by 24 guys already and is going to meet the 25th one and asks them to keep listening to know if she is going to celebrate the silver jubilee of her rejections. While she is struggling with rejections, her mother and aunt decide that she should participate in a marathon. Bhavya is not sure about it but still does it for her mother’s sake. It’s there that she meets Rishank, who accuses her of cheating in the marathon and tells a lot of unwanted things to her. While Bhavya manages to complete the marathon, her father, Vinay, criticizes her mother and aunt for making her do it. He tells them Bhavya is a gold medalist in architecture and doesn’t need a gold medal in anything else.
But while her father’s comments made her happy, Bhavya faced another rejection as the guy demanded she lose 20 kgs to get married. Though she agrees to it, she asks him to do the same, to which he refuses and tells her that she will not get married ever. Rishank, too, was there and gave her a speech about losing weight. He even insults her in front of a group of boys, but the girl that Bhavya is, she tells him that being fat is not a disease, but having a poor mindset definitely is.
We then meet Rishank’s family, who are gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their shop. His father, Nitin (played by Hiten Tejwani), is someone who gives importance to the rituals and traditions, while Rishank is just the opposite of that. The Jaiswal household is run by Bua Maa, who tries to manipulate things for her benefit. Though her intentions are not clear yet, it is evident that she doesn’t want the welfare of Nitin and his family. In the meantime, we see that Bhavya has been assigned to design a new gym for someone who is none other than Rishank, but Rishank humiliates her in front of everyone, leaving Bhavya in tears.
As luck would have it, Nitin and Vinay are childhood friends, and they meet at the temple. That’s where Nitin invites them to the party to celebrate their shop’s 25th anniversary. Rishank wanted to modernize his father’s shop and had plans to showcase a new modern collection, but Bhavya accidentally entered as the showstopper, which ruined Rishank’s plans but made Nitin happy. Meanwhile, Bhavya prepares the designs for Rishank’s gym; however, her boss asks another employee to present them, as Bhavya is not fit to do her job, as per Rishank. Though he approves the design, later Nitin too joins the meeting and is able to tell that the designs were made by Bhavya. He offers her the job, which upsets Rishank.
The next day, Rishank is hell-bent on making Bhavya quit the assignment and asks his employees and members to trouble her. But little did he know how stubborn Bhavya is. She rings a fire alarm and locks everyone in a room. She then takes all the measurements of the floor and leaves. Everyone compliments her for her idea, but later Rishank’s past comes haunting him after he sees a fat reflection of himself in the mirror. He then taunts Bhavya and makes her lift some weight. Bhavya gives her best and is able to do it and leaves after giving an earful to Rishank.
Meanwhile, a prospective groom has come to see Bhavya. Her family later comes to know that there is a video going viral of Bhavya that Rishank had made. The guy compliments Bhavya for showing so much courage and tells his family that he wants to marry Bhavya.
Meri Bhavya Life also streams on Jio Hotstar.
