It is but a coincidence that Super Subbu has released a day before Pritam and Pedro. Besides the fact that the titles of the two series are based on the names of their protagonists, Super Subbu takes a leaf out of the Rajkumar Hirani (who makes his digital debut as producer with Pritam and Pedro) book of mirth-meets-message, camouflaging bitter truths and taboo life lessons with humour, managing to pack in some succinct social commentary along the way.
Netflix India’s debut Telugu series, Super Subbu is a largely delightful seven-episode watch which uses a rural setting to talk about sex education, menstrual health, family planning and consent (“No beans no” is a fine, fine touch), through the initially awkward worldview of its main man. When we first meet him, Subramanyam Chilukuri aka Subbu (Sundeep Kishan) is far from “super”. Brought up by an extremely strict father (Murali Sharma plays the immediately arresting Kukuteshwar Rao), Subbu has never really had a “smell the roses” kind of life. But he does have to wake up and smell the coffee (we couldn’t resist that one) when his temporary job in the fictional village of Maakipur in Telangana can be made permanent only under one condition — he has to teach sex education to its inhabitants.
That is easier said than done, given that Maakipur has one of the highest rates of procreation in the country. Through a series of incidents — some lucky circumstances, a few unfortunate situations — Subbu reluctantly hurtles through his assignment, before embracing it midway. Teaching the village folk about the birds and the bees also empowers Subbu, simultaneously marking a coming-of-age journey for the young man. Aiding him is his man Friday Kantha (Getup Srinu) and aspiring actress Swathi (Mithila Palkar), even as Subbu does all he can to impress his girlfriend Divya (Maanasa Choudhary).
Director Mallik Raam takes what is a potentially sticky (and for some, icky) subject and turns it into a compelling watch, armed as he is with a smorgasbord of compelling characters, delightfully humorous situations and a premise which doesn’t seem exaggerated, even though some bits of Super Subbu naturally demand a heightened tone and treatment.
While some subplots — and quite a few loose, neglected threads that harp on village politics, work pressure and personal struggles to the point of overkill in parts — threaten to derail Super Subbu at times, the series prevails because it has its heart in the right place. Powering it is a convincing and heartfelt act from Sundeep Kishan who sheds his urban image to play a flawed yet likeable boy-next-door character. One who journeys through the course of a series — like Subbu, Super Subbu, too, has its fair share of bumps that we are willing to ignore — to ultimately metamorphose into a man. No ‘toxic’ men (or women) are, however, harmed in his ‘fairy tale for all ages’.