Metro Park (Season 2) review: This family show about NRIs keeps you entertained

The idea of 'family viewing' doesn't sit very well with the medium of web-series since most of them have featured unabashed adult content. Shows like Panchayat (2020) and Yeh Meri Family (2018) have been the exceptions. Eros Now’s Metro Park is part of the small list of shows that encourage family viewing.

Metro Park or Metropark, as it is put officially, is the name of the transit station in New Jersey, USA. This part of the state houses a large number of NRIs (non-resident Indians).

One such family is that of Kalpesh Patel (Ranvir Shorey). He runs a corner store while his wife Payal (Purbi Joshi) is joint owner of a beauty parlour. The two have kept their traditions alive, but their kids have adopted the American way of life, much to the discomfort of the parents.

Kalpesh gets irritated quickly but is soft at heart. Payal regularly criticizes him for something or the other. For example, it was because of Kalpesh that Payal’s mother (Sarita Joshi) did not get a visa to visit them. But deep down she loves Kalpesh.

Payal’s sister Kinjal (Vega Tamotia) and her husband Kannan (Omi Vaidya) have become parents and moved into their new residence in New Jersey. Bittu (Pitobash Tripathy) continues to be Kalpesh’s subordinate in the store.  

Any work of fiction is bound to have some conflict, especially if it is a 12 episode-long show. If not this, there at least needs to be some aim of the protagonist for which he or she has to struggle. Metro Park (Season 2) has none of this, but it is still entertaining.

The show gives us a glimpse into the lives of NRIs living on the East Coast in the US and what they experience in their day-to-day lives. The conflict here is in the form of little moments where some character or the other faces a little problem or challenge. Such situations, which come and exit soon, are used to create plenty of humour and drama.

But this isn’t the kind of show that will get you in splits regularly. It keeps the reality quotient intact and brings out punches from real-life situations that will make you smile throughout with occasional bursts of laughter. 

While it is understandable for characters to have a Gujarati accent, the idea of making Shorey and Joshi speak with such a heavy, stereotypical accent doesn’t work too well. Thankfully, both artistes bring the accent out naturally.

Shorey once again wows us with his ability to get into the skin of just about any character. He oscillates between Kalpesh’s toughness and softness naturally. Joshi is perfect as his wife and does justice to the many punchlines she is given. Tripathy displays his fine talent in every scene.

In her career of more than 10 years, this is Tamotia’s third major role in Hindi after Aamras: The Sweet Taste Of Friendship (2009) and Amit Sahni Ki List (2014). She displays a natural flair while playing a character that is quite the opposite of her husband.

Omi Vaidya, however, can’t seem to let go of the hangover of his character Chatur from 3 Idiots (2009). He is amusing nevertheless. Veteran Sarita Joshi is impressive, though she speaks only through a screen. Milind Soman makes a brief but memorable appearance. 

Abi Varghese and Ajayan Venugopalan, the creators of the show, have succeeded in recreating and handling the world of NRIs in New Jersey that is amusing as well as believable.

Eros Now is streaming Metro Part (Season 2) currently.