Amazon Prime video’s Four More Shots Please! is a show about four grown-up, flawed women who seem to make the mistakes men have been getting away with in Indian films and shows. Somehow, we get uncomfortable when women make errors in judgement. In that, the show makes you realise that women don’t get to be imperfect, selfish or messy.
The problem with ‘women-led’ shows or films are certain expectations of a ‘hero-like’ figure. Four more Shots Please! stays away from that. And the four women, barring Umang (Bani J) to an extent, are extremely privileged.
Created by Rangita Pritish Nandy, the 10-episode-long third season has more mistakes, sex and glamour compared to earlier ones. It does not end with everything nicely wrapped in resolutions and ‘happily ever afters’ and that’s what makes the show interesting.
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Old and new loves
The love lives of Damini (Sayani Gupta), Anjana (Kirti Kulhari), Siddhi (Maanvi Gangroo) and Umang have always been messy. It gets messier in the new season. There is no ‘the one’ for anyone and as Damini says, even when two people are in love, sometimes, they are still unable to make it work.
In a way, Season 3 challenges your love for a particular character by often making them act extremely selfish and problematic. But it is also shown as a learning curve for the character. It’s just that there are moments in the show when such actions feel more forced than just bad decisions.
Umang wants to move on from her almost fairy tale-like romance with Samara (Lisa Ray) and but there are new ‘temptations’ in the form of a divorced cafe-owner Megha, played by the stunning Shilpa Shukla and a yoga trainer played by Jim Sarbh. No media house wants to hire Damini, who is already struggling to process the trauma of her miscarriage. Her relationship with Jeh (Prateik Babbar) is also riding a stormy weather.
Anjana is back to living with her ex-husband Varun (Neil Bhoopalam), and negotiating with Shashank (Samir kocchar) at work after their messy break-up. Siddhi is probably the one dealing extreme anger and the consequences of her terrible choices. She is also grappling with the loss of her father, and her inability to take full responsibility for her own actions.
However, the best plot of this season is Sneha (Simone Singh) learning to be single again after her husband’s death and being labelled a husband-snatcher by other married women. Her brief fling with a man also wins brownie points for not making every older generation relationship about marriage.
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Consent, boundaries and families
The new season looks at the idea of consent and boundaries. Whether it’s Anjana establishing workplace boundaries with Shashank, or Umang figuring out how to create boundaries in casual relationships, setting up and honouring boundaries prove to be a mammoth task for all the characters.
The latest addition to the show is Rohan Mehra who plays a cross between Aaditya Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi with flair, and wants to take forward his family’s legacy as a political party but with a modern outlook. But as it is often the case, powerful families too can be messy, and heirs even more so.
While the third season has its share of thrills and glam and even an Italy tour, Four More Shots Please! feels stretched. The episodes are roughly 34-minutes-long, tighter editing could have really helped give it a desi Sex and the City vibe. It is binge-worthy, especially on the weekend, with probably your girl gang and some bubbly.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
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