The Expression Hub

Genre: Slice of life

Number of episodes: 4

Presented by: Cheers

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.

-Alan Wilson Watts

We all want to be successful in all aspects. We all want to acquire the latest mobile phone . We all want to flash the latest clothes which we wear . We want to flaunt our latest additions. But what exactly is success? The definition of success can vary from one person to another . For some it might be in terms of materialistic possessions , for some it might be in terms of personal growth and for some it is just living a satisfied life regardless of whatever expectations the society puts us on. But what do you do when you feel you have achieved something in life only to have lost it in some other form? Lets try to explore in our latest pick of the week.

Synopsis: Shrey is a regular guy who is working as a software tester in Pune. Pune is known to be one of the IT hubs of our country. After all, it is surrounded by IT parks, endless traffic jams and people who are rushing to offices with laptops and dreams in their eyes. He has been grinding into his work for the last five years- dealing with the same bugs, writing the same test reports and being surrounded with the same people and same atmosphere. However, what made this bearable was a dream which he had since childhood. And when you do have a dream, you just put in the work in the hope to realize it.

After putting in the work day in and day out, Shrey finally manages to pull it off. He is super proud of his achievement afterall his eureka moment had finally arrived. This was the moment when all his sacrifices had made sense. But then when just you feel that you have made it, life surprises him in such a manner that it blows his mind off.

Nobody had seen this coming. Not Shrey nor his friends. It is a thing which just messes up with his head. It makes him question everything he knew about life , success and things that matter. So how does he react to it? Does he freak out completely? Does he try to pretend it never happened? Or does he actually try to deal with whatever this crazy situation is? That’s the million-dollar question right there. Because let’s be honest, most of us would probably just want to run away and hide.

What does he do next? This is where things get really unpredictable. You’ve got this guy who just achieved his biggest dream, and now he’s faced with something that could change everything. Does he play it safe? Does he take risks? Does he talk to someone about it or keep it to himself? Every choice he makes from this point is going to shape not just what happens next, but who he becomes as a person.

And here’s what makes this story really worth watching – does it teach him something, or is it just another day in his life? Because sometimes life throws these curveballs at you, and you either learn from them or you just file them away as “weird stuff that happened once.” If Shrey does learn something from all this craziness, what are the lessons he learns? Does it change how he sees life? And if it does how does it do so?

Watch the series to find out the answers. Because honestly, you’re going to want to know what the hell happens to this guy, and whether he figures out how to deal with whatever bizarre situation he’s gotten himself into

Assessment: Rise tries to examine a young man’s perspective of life. It tries to examine of how one tries to figure out things in his life.This is done by making the plans and sorting out things . However, life happens in ways you never see coming. Yet how you deal with that googly is what defines your attitude towards life . This is what the mini series tries to convey.

The positives of the show is that it is a seamless experience with each episode integrating into one another. This makes it a joy for the viewers to view. The number of episodes are also less which means that you can save time . The cinematography is great.

Vikrant Massey plays the lead and honestly, he nails it. However here’s the thing – while Vikrant does great work, there’s another character in the show who absolutely steals every scene they’re in. I’m not going to spoil who it is because trust me, you’ll want to experience that surprise yourself. This character brings something special that you won’t see coming, and they end up being the real heart of the whole story.

As far as the negatives are concerned, there are hardly anything to note as such. Maybe only one thing that it ends up quickly as it is a short series. So, this can be a bummer for people who are used to watching seasons or shows of long format.

The View: Rise isn’t going to blow your mind with fancy special effects or over-the-top drama. What it does do is tell a simple, relatable story about a regular guy dealing with life’s unpredictability – and it does it really well. If you’ve ever had your plans completely derailed by something you never saw coming (and let’s be honest, who hasn’t?), you’ll connect with this one. The whole Pune IT scene feels authentic too – none of that glossy corporate nonsense you see in most shows. It’s just real people doing real jobs, which makes everything that happens feel more genuine.

Vikrant Massey brings his A-game here. He really gets into the character’s confusion and fear when everything starts falling apart. You can see him struggling with questions we’ve all faced – what do you do when the thing you worked for doesn’t turn out the way you expected? And that mystery character I mentioned? They’re absolutely worth the watch alone. Their scenes add this whole different layer to the story that you won’t see coming. The show takes its time building up to the big moment, but when it hits, it genuinely makes you think about how we handle life’s surprises. It’s not trying to be the next big streaming sensation – it’s just a well-told story about dreams, reality checks, and figuring out what to do when everything goes sideways.

Give it a shot if you’re in the mood for something real and grounded. Just don’t expect to binge it in one sitting – it’s the kind of show that makes you want to pause and think after each episode.

Rating: ****

Baap Dialogue: “You don’t lose a fight because you fall; you lose the fight because you refused to rise.”

Que: Name the sweet which Shrey distributes in his office as a celebration?

a. Kaju Katli

b. Motichoor Ladoo

c. Rawa Barfi

d. Bisi Bele Bhath