A 24-year-old Mumbai lad eager for a steady date. What’s new, you ask? Rahul Nair’s Eternally Confused and Eager for Love brings up all the faults of Ray, the protagonist, front and centre. Ray has two friends—a girl he has known since school, and a work buddy. Then there is Wiz—a fictional character of whom he has a drawing, a key chain, and a statue. The series follows the self-conscious youth’s botched attempts to find a girlfriend, or to simply get laid.
Apart from his raging hormones and level of desperation, it is the Wiz that often gets him into tight spots. The attempt to capture all of this in a series is a little flimsy, but hilarious. Vihaan Samat as Ray manages to get the viewer’s sympathy vote. His confident buddies Varun (Ankur Rathee) and Riya (Dalai) are friends most of us have had or have in our lives. While the series is relatable on some level, the plot does not hook you beyond episode two.
Much of the show depicts the series of dates Ray goes on after being set up by his parents, friends and a dating app. From the too-good-to-be-true Pari to the annoying Komal, all the women he meets are realistic, but the only one who is well fleshed-out is Riya. His woes are multiplied by trouble with his hard-to-please boss, Pushpa. When it comes to women, it seems like Ray has got a raw deal. But then, Ray is not exactly a ray of sunshine himself.
The Wiz, voiced by Jim Sarbh, does deliver some zingers, and he alone provides the comic relief in the series. Rahul Roy and Suchitra Pillai as Ray’s parents do not have much of a role. Scenes where they ask their son if he is gay, because he has not scored with a girl yet, are quite passe. When a project is helmed by Excel Entertainment associated with names like Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, one has high expectations, but this one does not deliver. The series, raunchy in parts, fails to get the audience to root for Ray like they did for Sameer in Dil Chahta Hai or for Imraan in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
The show might click with a section of Gen Z, but only if it picks up pace in season two. Otherwise, one might just swipe left.