‘Those were the best days of my life’ aptly describes TVF’s College Romance’s central theme.
Those who’ve followed the first two seasons of College Romance on SonyLIV know that the popular web series is about life on the college campus, revolving around a group of friends going through their daily ups and downs in friendship, relationships and beyond.
College Romance Season 1 set the tone and context for the franchise. With characters escalating from friendship to dating, from hooking up to intimacy, the first season was not only funny, relatable and punctuated with punchlines, it’s also wholesome in all aspects. Season 2 focused on handling breakups, complexities of long-distance friendship and the importance of counselling as many youngsters don’t open up easily.
Here are the highlights of the five-episode Season 3 of College Romance Season 3, streaming on SonyLIV.
Strong performances by the young cast
The show rides on strong performances, especially the lead pair of Gagan Arora (Bagga) and Apoorva Arora (Naira). Gagan, who you might have seen in Tabbar and The Fame Game, has the best lines and scenes. Bagga and Naira’s chemistry lights up the tedious moments and forms the base for the duo’s heart-tugging scenes while building up the cliffhanger at the end.
Keshav Sadhna does his best to play the loyal, happy-go-lucky friend Karan. Shreya Mehta as Deepika is the stereotypical bold girl (and you might imagine a contest between Maheep Kapoor from Fabulous lives of Bollywood Wives and Deepika on the number of times they can utter the word ‘f**k’). Among the new characters, Jahnvi Rawat as Raavie is impressive. Her fashion game is strong too. Nupur Nagpal as the naive Dhatrapriya looks believable, while Eklavey Kashyap as Harry adds more colour.
Relatable themes
College Romance Season 3 highlights how former couple Karan and Deepika can move on and remain good friends. A lot of issues — from finding a housemate to share the load of the rented apartment to the downside of a long-distance relationship — get covered. Then, there are predictable miscommunications among friends that lead to silly squabbles.
College Romance Season 3 normalises a junior boy dating a senior girl in college, just like a senior boy flirts with a female fresher. A chunk of the show focuses on how students struggle to come out to their families and friends about their sexual orientation, fearing judgment.
It also deals with the struggle of coming to terms with one’s own self and the confusion around it. It throws light on how some youngsters get worked up with the idea of physical intimacy as a result of peer pressure. College Romance Season 3 is laced with cautionary tales on relevant issues, like how one’s drink can be spiked when one’s not watching at a club or a social gathering.
The downsides
Season 3 starts off on an endearing note on how Bagga and Naira struggle to keep the spark alive in a long-distance relationship. The desperate duo go to the extent of booking a call-at-home massage session for a ‘happy ending’!
Cut to Naira leaving her college in the US and returning to India because she is homesick. It would have been great to see Naira battling this difficult phase in the US, given that it’s relatable for many students studying abroad and Apoorva’s such a natural actor. But it comes across as Naira is back to have her drink with her friends. One also wished to watch a few ROFL classroom moments, but the characters hardly took a break from the frequent partying.
A millennial’s take on a Gen Z story
Between being hooked to all Roadies episodes and losing all interest in the said show, a millennial grew up. As College Romance is targeted to a young demographic, millennials can binge the light-hearted drama to rewind to the good old carefree days and their college besties. This sudden nostalgia might make you want to drop a ‘Hi’ in the inactive college WhatsApp group.
