Kota Factory Season 3 Review: TVF Show Explores the Dark Side of IIT-JEE Coaching

As someone who has personal experience of being torn between upcoming competitive exams that determine your career trajectory and school exams, I finally felt heard when Vaibhav from Kota Factory gave almost [Kaartik Aryan’s] A Pyaar Ka Punchnama style rant about a terrible conflict. If you focus on one, it will naturally affect the other, and finding that fine line of balance is no easy feat. I may not have been a student of Kota, but the dilemma I faced many years ago when I was crushed with NEET preparation and also trying to score well in the exams felt fresh as I watched the protagonists go through a similar war for JEE. Every year, millions of students find themselves at the end of this painful conflict, and Kota Factory’s third season tackles this issue with the scrutiny it deserves.

Our favorite group of engineering hopefuls are now in their second year of training, and as their final battle date approaches, the stakes are higher than ever. Clouds of frustration, confusion, fear, self-doubt, uncertainty and helplessness hang over students, and the slightest triggers cause intense reactions. However, the determination to get into India’s most prestigious engineering institute, Indian Institute of Technology, remains.

However, this time it was not only students who found themselves in an awkward position. The universal messiah, Jitu Bhaiya, also found himself in an emotionally difficult situation. One of his students committed suicide in the season two finale, sending him into a black hole of hopelessness, guilt, and depression. He has difficulty answering calls, prefers to be isolated, and sits lifelessly in a dirty room where trash continues to accumulate. The crushing responsibility of mentoring hundreds of people, both teacher and self-proclaimed big brother, weighs heavily on him, especially since he feels somewhat responsible for the tragedy. We even see him seek help from a willing therapist to get through this difficult phase.

Review of the third season of “Cat Factory”: the rose-colored glasses come off

In this season, Jitu Bhaiya’s character seeks help from a therapist.

For the first time, the show’s creators took him off his pedestal and addressed the attachment issues he may have. Now he’s a traumatized teacher who no longer knows whether it’s good for him to remain as involved in his students’ lives as he always has, or to draw a healthy boundary. The moral dilemma is loud and clear. While the mortal battle is waged within him, there are also some refreshing scenes where we can’t help but come to the defense of his students almost reflexively and immediately feel at home. In others, we see him lash out for no reason. The coexisting paradoxes are brilliantly illuminated: the vicious circle of what the therapist often calls a flight to what feels familiar, even if it causes you harm.

The whole scene with Jeetu the therapist is well written and has logical arguments, but I still felt it was a bit out of touch with the overall tone of the show. It’s understandable that big tragic events can often lead to a complete personality change, but Jeethu Bhaiya’s transformation in some scenes seems a bit exaggerated.

Let me explain. He has been in Kota for many years now, and with the long list of fans he is shown to have, it is unlikely that this is the first time he has witnessed something like this, especially since Kota has become increasingly notorious over the years among students. suicide.

If the creators wanted to portray this event as the final blow to the bold façade it has put up thus far, it forces us to question everything we know about it. Was he ever really funny? Was he feigning positivity to distract from a dark reality? Is he incapable of sticking to his philosophy? Did he somehow foresee this? And most importantly, aren’t figures like Jitu Bhaiya enough to help the millions of students embarking on this dangerous journey? If a rotten education system has crushed a strong person like Jeetu, is there any hope? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, it’s painful to watch a physics stalwart go through something like this.

Vaibhav and Vartika’s relationship faces new challenges in season 3

While Jeetu Bhaiya’s storyline will make you a little uncomfortable, the rest of the characters – Meena, Uday and Shivangi – are the same as they were the last time you saw them and bring a familiar breeze of refreshment. Each of them delivered nuanced performances and maintained the essence of the student-centric show. You will still feel Mina is adorable and smile at his innocence. You’ll thank Uday for the comic relief he brings to lighten the mood. Shivangi is still the same one to whom one would like to turn for wisdom. I especially liked how the creators gave her more space this time around, and through her character I recognized how blatantly the efforts and concerns of paramedics are often brushed aside without any good reason. I wish this had been discussed earlier.

The creators also made sure to highlight the often-ignored impact of toxic, commercialized education on teachers. While the first season only featured a small portion of this in the form of a chemistry teacher getting fired due to false student feedback, the third season gives this theme plenty of space. We see the teachers’ hesitation to stay in Kota, the overwhelming sense of guilt, the inability to change the situation despite desperate desires, and the dilemma of choosing between donning the hats of a good teacher or a good business staff while running an educational institution. However, the main focus of teachers is still on Jeet bhaiya.

Tillotama Shome’s role as a teacher in the Department of Chemistry at Jitu Coaching Center is impressive.

Kota Factory has also managed to maintain its signature cinematography style. We see calculated shots, symmetrical prop placement, and a variety of visual metaphors. Some scenes resemble a neatly designed piece of art based on the equations that Jeetu Bhaiya keeps writing on the famous blackboard. Cinematographer Sridutta Namjoshi brilliantly brings to life the series’ signature visual style. This is also the first season of Kota Factory to not have a single color frame (the first one was a Maheshwari Classes promo and the second one was a color frame orientation).

Mina is still a charming friend who will support you in any situation.

While the show manages to cover new and old issues with impressive skill, the overall tone of the show has changed somewhat and one can feel the darkness trying to take over. You will laugh less and feel more.

This makes me wonder if TVF has replaced its old simple and sweet formula of entertaining series with a more serious one. “Cat Factory” is not the only show from the production house that has evolved in complexity and theme, pushing its cheerful characters into a rut. In fact, Panchayat and Gullak took a similar turn, with initially humorous shows going a few shades darker. Interestingly, all three series have undergone personnel changes in both the directing and writing departments. Is this just a coincidence or have TVF decided to abandon their usual good style?