Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya review: Kay Menon teaches, trolls, and questions our education system

OTT has been slowly and steadily serving the same food with different dressings and presentations. But does that really make it taste different, right? Over the years, several lighthearted shows have been released that follow the chaos of daily life, life lessons, struggles, and much more, all served with a generous dose of sweetness.

The latest sweet addition to that menu is Kay Kay Menon’s Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya. What’s ironic is the timing of its release. The 7-part series drops at a time when the entire country is rocked by student protests over the NEET paper leak. Set in a part of New Delhi, the series feels like a mix of several OTT shows we have seen before. And yet, in parts, it’s different.

It touches upon several problems in society, and argues that the only real solution is education. While watching, there are several moments and scenes where both children and teachers are finding solutions to everyday problems. As the two or even three generations continue to find solutions to the same problem, but it's threads, not connected, but runs parallel to what we are seeing happening right now, in the same city, where the show is set.

Still of Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya Photograph: (X/Prime Video)

What is the story of Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya?

The seven-episode series is set in Delhi's Tinki Toli area and revolves around the government school, Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya. Every decision, even the one regarding studies, is based on the budget that they have to spend. The head of this series is Gyanseshwar Tripathi (Kay Kay Menon), the principal and the history teacher of ABV. In the list of do's to be done for the student, the last thing that comes is the student, and then the education. While with no resources and money, they have to take, or basically snatch from the PA (Archana Puran Singh) of a local politician. With his laid-back approach, he's running the school. But he gets active when he learns about the government-sponsored training programme in Cambridge. But there's a catch to achieve this. So for this, he gets on a mission to get the 10th class batch to get the best marks in the session. While making the students study is a hard job, and to achieve all this, he had to go through several hardships.

In education, what's strange is how hard it all is

Directed by Himank Gaur and written by Biswapati Sarkar, Akshay Asthana, Nupur Pai, Tatsat Pandey, and Meghna Srivastava, the best thing about this show is the length of each episode; each one lasts only half an hour. This is the show’s biggest asset. The short runtime works in its favour, helping cover up its faults and shortcomings.

With Menon as the lead, the series has a light tone. It doesn’t have a lot to discuss, but it’s rather a humorous commentary on the problems that we ought to discuss.

Still of Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya Photograph: (X/Prime Video)

While education and young children are the focus, the show also briefly explores the lives of the teachers. The characters feel familiar.They give you a déjà vu of several other characters we have seen before, but they’re still enjoyable.

In the show, Prasanna Bisht plays the new teacher, Kanchan, who deals with students peacefully, a surprising and challenging path to take. Then there’s the strict teacher, Hansraj Meena (Abhimanyu Singh). But behind his tough image is a man who loves putting mehendi designs on hands. So every teacher is different, every student is different. And when all these ingredients come together, the dish we get is enjoyable and delicious. But with that, I’m also not saying that the show is all and all perfect. There isn’t much time, and it’s not explored enough to expect much commentary. Yes, it comically tackles several serious issues, whether it’s how education is handled, how non-progressive parents address education, how government teachers function, and how everything is run under the orders of MLA Goldy (Deven Bhojani). But all it boils down to is one thing: education, and where it is concerned, the odd part is the struggle.

Still of Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya Photograph: (X/Prime Video)

With the light tone, the series is short enough that it doesn't bore you out. And all this, with the pack of actors who have given a worthy performance, which is enough to entertain. While the show, as I said earlier, doen't offer anything new or surprising. Its commentary is something that you will laugh at, but it is the issue that has been addressed again and again, but remains unaddressed to a very extent. That said, a few scenes do feel a bit overdone and feel like that social cause. The short runtime helps here; even when something drags, it’s over quickly, and the show moves on.

With a promising cast, this seven-episode show is light-hearted, humorous, and an easy watch, perfect for a weekend or any casual day when you have nothing to watch. Ironically, even if Jantar Mantar news has you overloaded, this show will have you talking about protests and the education system anyway.

Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya is streaming on Prime Video.