Vidit Bhargava
A self driving car mutilates a human. But it “couldn’t” have. Robots are sacred in this world, they can do no harm to humans. A few moments later we get to see the car’s number plate, it aptly begins with “GAO MA”. It’s hilarious, it’s also the tone that the show takes throughout, one that’s delightfully absurd.
OK Computer is not a vision of the future. It’s future telling us just how messed up our present is. A commentary about all that’s wrong with our world today from the perspective of a world that many assume we’d be in. Be it the unwavering faith we so readily put in just about anyone or how enamoured we are with technology and the corporations that sell that technology to us. It’s a show with a lot to say! Perhaps a little too much.
If there’s one thing that’s clear from the start, it’s that the show has no room for seriousness. It’s much closer in treatment to "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy", than say “WestWorld” or “I, Robot”. The creators are very clear here, it’s a show that just loves its H2G2 references, they’re hidden everywhere! (The name comes from Radiohead’s OK Computer which itself is a reference to a dialog from the series that goes something to the tune of ‘OK Computer I want full manual control now’). It’s futile to expect a serious plot here. The murder mystery is just hook to tell you about something completely different. It’s also not a show that’s in love with the futuristic science and technology. It’s one that is admittedly frustrated about it (I don’t blame them, Honestly it’s all of us at this point). This is a setup ripe for deadpan humour, and the show is great at it.
Writer Anand Gandhi whose recent previous works have had a cult like following is on a tough journey here. The Absurdist Sci-Fi comedy demands a constant stream of gags while keeping the show tethered to a core story. He doesn’t always succeed. The gags are great! Gandhi gets the absurdist comedy part of the show on point. He possesses a deep understanding of the world he’s created, from Robotics to VR, it’s a future of all the elements we are seeing germinate today. And the humour is just sliced on the fine line between this futuristic tech world and the socio-political landscape of today. It’s brilliant satire.
An elusive inventor of a futuristic technology is named “Satoshi” (Satoshi Nakamoto anyone?); her username “notSatoshi” fooling no one but the AI. Wet robot parts are placed in a bag full of rice, before moving on to a conveyer belt. The gags on technology cover everything, from the hilarious incompetence of our AI models, to our rudimentary techniques that are bound to live on even as tech progresses.
But the show falters at creating a relatable story to tether to. The thing is it’s too absurd for you to care about any thing else. There’s just no time given to the shows many subplots. The writers have so much to say, that what could’ve been important plot points are mere blips in this 6 episode series. There’s no time given to develop characters either, so when the matters come to a head in it’s final act, you couldn’t care less about anyone. Human or Android. It doesn’t help that the show’s robotic protagonist AJEEB (a reference to the faux automation object perhaps?) has an agonisingly shrill voice. Making it unbearable at times. Not sure if it’s intentional but AJEEB makes it difficult for you to like it. Actually, I had no sympathy for any of the bots. In fact, I had little sympathy for any of the human characters either.
A question for the creators, if the robot really is gender fluid as it claims, why does it restrict its preferred pronouns to He/She, does the bot’s sentience and intelligence not teach it that gender isn’t binary? What’s the extent of the robot’s knowledge, does it get all of it from its human creators, or can it read the web at its leisure. In general, I felt the topic of sentience and the extent of the robot’s knowledge could’ve been explored further.
What the shows characters lack in depth, is made up for by their actors. Kani Kusruti as Monalisa Paul and Vijay Verma as Saajan Kundu are excellent. Their comic timing is impeccable, Verma especially seems to be having a lot of fun as the cybercrime officer. His sullen, frustrated character gets the biggest share of screen time and Verma makes the most of it. He infuses the character with relatability and knows how to land his jokes. He’s having fun here and is in with the madness. Kani Kusruti as his assistant on the crime plays the exact opposite character. While Verma’s Saajan is full of emotion, even if most of it anger and hatred towards the bots; Kusruti’s character is emotionless and is enamoured by the robotic creatures. Kusruti makes more than what she gets to work with here. Her comic timing nicely complements Verma’s. Together two help the gags coming even as the show’s pace slackens a bit towards the end, they give us the only two characters that’ll be remembered far longer than the show. It’s a feat!
Radhika Apte (Laxmi), Vibha Chhibber (DCP DCP) and Ratnabali Bhattacharjee (Trisha Singh from ZIP) are great in their roles. I just wish they had more to do here. Jackie Shroff is impressive in the small cameo he gets.
Shroff gets little to do but has an impressive cameo as the leader of JJM, a cult of anti science, anti technology members, basically a modern rendition of the Luddites. The members of the cult wear masks that harken back to a terrorist clan from the 60s, it’s the sort of gag that could’ve gone awry really quickly but is masterfully pulled off. Sadly the whole subplot lasts a mere minutes until the show meanders over to the next one.
At one point in the show a characters phone spontaneously bursts into flames, robots attack him, and his own toaster prints out a skull image on his morning toast. Practically making his life a nightmare. It’s a reminder of just how much we’ve given our lives into the hands of tech giants, and just how quickly that technology can turn on us. It’s not hard to imagine a person being locked out of the digital world, their voice silenced and their work tarnished if a suitably big corporate takes umbrage from their actions. It’s the perfect encapsulation of what this show is. We’re living in the absurd future right now. We’re just too enamoured by the “progress” to see it.
The show also falters when it tries to take itself too seriously. Honestly, there’s no need to hammer the message in, when you’ve already alienated anyone looking for a straightforward drama here. (You lost those viewers in the pilot, you’re not getting them back in the final episode)
This presents a more broader question though. Who is this show really for? It’s a very small niche. As a country, the majority are still basking in the glory of tech, special effects, science fiction and what not. So a WestWorld or a Blade Runner gets so much more attention than say Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (honestly, outside of a cult created by high school kids in late 2000s and early 2010s, I haven’t met many Indians who read it and actually enjoyed it). OK Computer is sadly going to end up being a one season show, even if there’s so much to like about it. Perhaps that’s why the creators wanted to stuff everything in, in such a short span? A more receptive audience and a more patient writing could’ve seen Gandhi get his own “Trilogy of five parts” ;)
“Pav Bhaji!?” The show’s protagonist asks in puzzlement as he prods over a body lying in a pool of blood, mutilated beyond recognition. It’s a great gag that still makes me laugh. But it’s also a clear reflection of the films story. It’s like a Pav Bhaji, with so many vegetables but none of them gaining a dominant taste. It’s good for the dish, I am not sure how good that’s for the show.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching OK Computer. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so much at such satire. At the same time it’s equally distressing to see it fail in the places it does. Nevertheless, it’s uniqueness and awareness of technology alone, is rare and worthy of appreciation.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ ( I liked it, you may or may not )
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42 is the size of Saajan’s shoes. So now you know without doubt where Gandhi is looking for his Answers. :P
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