Created by: Rajiv Rajaram & Drishya
Director: Arun Koushik
Cast: Aadhitya Baaskar, Namritha, Jayanth, Siddharth, Guru Somasundaram, ‘Badava’ Gopi
Every once in a while, a film or show comes along that’s just a breezy and fun watch. Meme Boys, an eight part series streaming on Sony Liv, falls into this category and is a blast for the most part.
Meme Boys is a college campus drama and it’s fair to say that this genre is a tried and tested one. In fact, you could list out any number of films, right from Student Of The Year to the recently released Don, and you’ll find incredible similarities in the plot. There’s always a goofy gang of friends, a rival gang, an authoritarian Dean, a contest to be won and this list goes on. So when it comes to this genre, it’s not the ‘what’, but the ‘how’ that decides whether a film/show manages to catch the audience’s imagination.
The protagonists are four students named Mojo (Aadhithya Baaskar), Jumbo (Siddharth), Power (Jayanth) and Julie (Namritha). They are participants in a meme contest (called Memefest), a contest that has been dominated for years by a rival student called ‘Dude’ Rahul. What sets our group apart though, is that they believe they can bring about a positive change in the quality of life at their campus through their memes.
Not everyone is their well wisher of course and the newly appointed dean Narayanan (played by a menacing Guru Somasundaram) is at the top of this list. Narayanan is a ruthless disciplinarian who despises the Meme Boys. He creates a ‘Dean Squad’ led by Professor Kathir (a fantastic Badava Gopi) to take the Meme Boys down. With the meme fest stakes really high and Narayanan’s threat increasing by the day, the Meme Boys must do all it takes to accomplish their competition goals.
Most episodes in Meme Boys are a laugh riot and the comedy is genuinely rib tickling. Watch out for the rip-roaring scene where Power helps a digitally handicapped Prof Kathir reset a password. There’s then the fantastic episode titled ‘Mission Unpossible’ where the Meme Boys execute an intricate and dangerous plan to post a meme with a remixed Mission Impossible BGM strumming in the background. Across all episodes, we also get a smattering of hilarious sarcasm aimed at mainstream Tamil cinema and its demigod superstars. Even popular mega serials face the wrath and are not spared.
The only loose end in Meme Boys is probably the convenient twists that are placed towards the climax. But the overall experience is so satisfying, that you tend to excuse these deficiencies. You felt the Tamil industry was lagging a bit when it came to the longer format of OTT shows. With the advent of shows such as Meme Boys, I think the Tamil OTT industry is finally catching up and coming of age.
Overall rating: 3/5
