Gullak season 4 review: The Mishras keep it intact with their heartwarming storytelling!

The fourth season of Gullak continues to give us heartfelt and relatable stories from the daily lives of a middle-class family aka the Mishras! 

TVF Gullak's specialty is taking the mundane lives of a lower middle-class family and turning that into a fuzzy and warm show. You tune in for its rooted relatability wrapped in small snippets of messages and, of course, the close-knit Mishra family. On that note, Gullak season 4 doesn't disappoint and upholds the bar of the previous seasons. It's like this slice-of-life comedy drama has become our own version of Modern Family!

Gullak season 3 took a wider approach just like recently released Panchayat season 3. We saw the family beyond their old-school charming house and dealt with the world's pressures. In this season, since it's winter, the family returns to the comforts of the four walls but with the added pressure of the world interacting with them. Santosh Mishra (Jameel Khan) deals with Nagar Nigam's notice of the illegal construction of the house while Shanti Mishra (Geetanjali Kulkarni) deals with the trauma of chain snatching. Both of their kids, the elder Anand Mishra (Vaibhav Raj Gupta), deals with keeping his ego in check to retain his job while the younger one, Aman Mishra (Harsh Mayar), deals with the perils of budding romance and teenage.

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Gullak 's heart lies in the way it reigns in the truth that in this practical world, the ground reality is far from moral consciousness, especially for a middle-class family that is busy surviving. Continuing on this from previous seasons, this time as well, the mundane reality is mixed with a light-hearted and nostalgic tone. And this is visible in scenes where the whole idea of corruption becomes about whether the bribe giver or taker gets the upper hand in this power tussle, how there is a difference between stealing and snatching as one leaves a financial dearth while the other causes emotional trauma, and a day with a kabaddi wala (the same plumber from Kapoor and Sons) makes you realize the importance of memories attached with the things we own and why it's hard to let go of them. Apart from that, this season's overarching theme is about the face-off between adulting and parenting. It's a tough rope to walk on for both as parents have to realize and accept that kids are not kids anymore, and young adults have to realize that there is still a long way to go to be an adult.

As usual, many moments in this season feel like they've represented my entire family. However, my favorites have to be the unsaid patriarchal behavior of all three men when Shanti goes silent in dealing with her trauma and the sweet sharing moment amongst the brothers when Aman wants to run away. Even the family's piggybank narration spelling out the obvious wisdom like a wise owl might be irritating for some, but it becomes a thought bubble that validates and gives me comfort, like we share a secret! 

Directed by Shreyansh Pandey and written by Vidit Tripathi, this season, while continuing the legacy of previous seasons, also finds maturity and growth, especially for its characters. The ensemble cast of Jameel Khan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Harsh Mayar, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, and Sunita Rajwar handles this delicate dance of their characters convincingly well making the sudden emotional shift seemingly natural. At the end of the day, Gullak season 4, with the Mishras' scabs and squabbles, is all the same as any other season of Gullak. And I'll be honest; I was a little skeptical before the season came out because for how long can you watch the same thing and derive the same enthralling pleasure? But, after watching the season, if the answer is left up to me, I would say as many times as possible! Because for one, what I want from this show is much-needed relatability, warmth, and familiarity that I get from FRIENDS, or Schitt's Creek reruns and Gullak is slowly giving me that sitcom comfort! 

Guallk season 4 is currently streaming on SonyLIV! 

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