Kota Factory

Kota Factory is an 2019 Indian Hindi-language web series directed by Raghav Subbu for The Viral Fever.[1] The series simultaneously premiered on TVFPlay and YouTube on 16 April 2019. It is also the first black and white web series in India.[2] The show follows the life of 16-year-old Vaibhav who moves to Kota from Itarsi. It shows the life of students in the city, and Vaibhav's efforts to get into IIT. Kota is a hub for many coaching centres where students come from all over India to prepare for various entrance exams.[3] Saurabh Khanna, the creator of the show, says that through Kota Factory he aims to change the perspective about Kota and IIT preparation which he feels has always been one sided emphasising on the trauma that education brings in a student's life.[4][5]

Kota Factory
Official release poster
Genre
  • Drama
  • Comedy
Created bySaurabh Khanna & Tamojit Das
Directed byRaghav Subbu
Starring
Composers
  • Karthik Rao
  • Simran Hora
Country of originIndia
Original languageHindi
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerSameer Saxena
CinematographyJerin Paul
EditorGourav Gopal Jha
Running time30 – 45 minutes
Production companyContagious Online Media Network
Release
Original networkTVFPlay
Original release16 April (2019-04-16) –
14 May 2019 (2019-05-14)
External links
Website

Cast

Main cast
  • Mayur More as Vaibhav Pandey
  • Ranjan Raj as Balmukund Meena
  • Alam Khan as Uday Gupta
  • Jitendra Kumar as Jeetu Bhaiya[6]
  • Ahsaas Channa as Shivangi Ranawat
  • Revathi Pillai as Vartika Ratawal
  • Urvi Singh as Meenal Parekh

Recurring cast
  • Arun Kumar as Deepak
  • Harish Peddinti as Bablu
  • Sanyam Bafna as Aayush
  • Loveleen Mishra as PG Aunty
  • Jasmeet Singh Bhatia as Parminder Sir
  • Shivankit Singh Parihar as Awasthi Sir
  • Gaurav Mishra as Batla Sir
  • Visshesh Tiwari as Piyush
  • Jyoti Gauba as Vaibhv's mother
  • Amitabh Krishna Ghanekar as Vaibhav's father
  • Saurabh Khanna as Vice Principal Mehta Ji
  • Deepak Kumar Mishra as Autowala
  • Sameer Saxena as Maheshwari Sir
  • Vaibhav Thakkar as Shushrut

Episodes

Season 1

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date Viewers
(millions)
1"Inventory"Raghav SubbuAbhishek Yadav16 April 2019 (2019-04-16)29[7]
Vaibhav comes to Kota and joins Prodigy coaching Classes. He is allotted the last batch of the centre, A10. He meets Meena and Uday, who are also in Prodigy. Meena tells Vaibhav that he should not accept A10, as it is the lowest batch of the classes. He speaks with the head of the classes, Deepak, about changing his batch. He then meets Jeetu Bhaiya, a teacher who teaches Physics. He gives Vaibhav a 50 question paper, and tells him to complete it by the next day. With the help of his friends Meena and Uday, he solves 42 questions, copying the whole sums from different books. But he is not able to do the rest 8 questions. Jeetu Bhaiya tells him the next day, that one sum is wrong, as the same mistake is been made by the book's author. He gets to know that Vaibhav has copied all questions from different books. He is not able to do the rest 8 questions, as they were set by him. Jeetu Bhaiya allots Vaibhav A5 batch, because he did a lot of hard work behind it. He inspires Vaibhav, telling him that they will try till the end, and they will crack IIT.
2"Assembly Line"Raghav SubbuSaurabh Khanna & Abhishek Yadav23 April 2019 (2019-04-23)19[8]
In this episode he struggles to sleep, eat, study for long hours, and still drinks bottled mineral water. The whole idea is to find ways to help Vaibhav cope with his new life and get rid of his constipation. Uday (Alam Khan) and Meena (Ranjan Raj) come up with quite weird but mostly funny ways to help their new friend. These include going to a temple, getting a checkup by Uday's girlfriend, and visiting his school friend, Piyush (Visshesh Tiwari). It is very easy to relate to the situation as settling down in a new place is something most people experience at some point in their lives. Once again, it is Jeetu Bhaiya (Jitendra Kumar) who comes to their rescue. As it turns out Jeetu is not just a beloved physics teacher but an "agony aunt" for his students. He is the person to go to for any problem a student might have at any time of the day. Another aspect of his character which makes us all wish we had a teacher like him. The tone of this episode is lighter compared to the first one and is a welcome change. It still follows the black & white colour palette which unlike the previous episode feels a bit out of place. There is also an ongoing phone call situation with Vaibhav and his mother which is heartwarming to see.
3"Optimization"Raghav SubbuAbhishek Yadav & Sandeep Jain30 April 2019 (2019-04-30)21[9]

This episode mainly deals with the complicated subject of Inorganic Chemistry. Vaibhav is not able to cope up with this subject and blames the teachers who are teaching the subject, for his ability not to understand the subject. He changes 3 teachers for the subject. After not being able to understand the subject with the 3rd teacher as well, he bursts out all his anger and frustration in front of Meena. Meena takes him to Jeetu Bhaiya, who explains to him that he can drop the subject, and also tells him, "Inorganic Chemistry is an Exception".

To which they are inspired and happy.
4"Shutdown"Raghav SubbuSaurabh Khanna, Abhishek Yadav7 May 2019 (2019-05-07)19[10]

Prodigy gives them a little break from the studies, and tells them to visit a school for their practicals. Uday tells Vaibhav that he wishes to roam around Kota with Shivangi, his girlfriend. He also tells Vaibhav that he should also come with them and a girl named Vartika. While Uday discusses this with Vaibhav, Meena is busy talking with Meenal. Meena first plans to study with Vaibhav, but then backs out by the saying of Meenal. As Vaibhav disagrees to go, Meena goes instead of him. As Vartika too insists to study, She takes help from Vaibhav, and studies while Uday, Shivangi, Meena and Meenal roam around Kota. Vaibhav and Vartika start developing feelings for each other, but don't speak it out. Wanting to be with Vartika, Vaibhav gives an exam along with her to go to Maheshwari, although he does not want to go there.

After the exams, Vaibhav and Vartika start studying for 12th as well. Meena finds it useless to roam around Kota, as he starts developing feelings for Meenal, but she says that she will be moving to the US. He thought that it would have been better to study instead of roaming around.
5"Overhaul (Season Finale)"Raghav SubbuAbhishek Yadav14 May 2019 (2019-05-14)18[11]
Vaibhav is a bit shocked to come to know that he has been selected for Maheshwari classes. Deepak and Batla Sir talk to the bunch of students who are selected for Maheshwari, including Vaibhav. The bunch are allotted in A1, a measure taken to stop the students from going to Maheshwari. Vaibhav is completely settled in Prodigy now and does not intend to leave. He hears a student telling his 2 friends not to stay in Prodigy, as he thinks that anyone can make it to A1 in Prodigy, but Maheshwari provides real competition. Jeetu Bhaiya also talks to them about this, and all students say that they are not going to Maheshwari. Vaibhav tells Jeetu Bhaiya about the student who was talking about going to Maheshwari, to which Jeetu Bhaiya says that it is nothing new about that, every year many students do that. He also insists Vaibhav go to Maheshwari, as there are more students and focus there. Vaibhav is reluctant to go, as he has got friends here and is now completely settled. But, Jeetu Bhaiya shows him some merchandise from famous and expensive companies that his students have gifted him, and tells him that these are his real gifts, Vaibhav takes Jeetu Bhaiya's blessings and decides to go to Maheshwari. He has a farewell from Shivangi, Meena, and especially Vartika. They promise each other that they will definitely see each other in IIT. Uday drops him off at Maheshwari, where he is allotted A3. He meets a nervous student named Sushrut, who is in A7. He tells him that he thinks 12th is very late to join coaching, he is also scared that there are Board Exams also. Vaibhav tells him not to worry, and he quotes, " Only 21 days. You only have to slog for 21 days. Then you will blend in.", Remembering Jeetu Bhaiya and his friends.

Soundtrack
Kota Factory
Soundtrack album by
Karthik Rao & Simran Hora
Released23 May 2019 (2019-05-23)[12][13]
Length25:01
LanguageHindi
LabelContagious Online Media Network
Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."The Gentleman" Simran HoraSimran Hora02:50
2."Main Bola Hey!"Abhishek Yadav, Manish Chandwani & Karthik RaoKarthik RaoKarthik Rao02:33
3."Nostalgia" Karthik Rao 03:18
4."Jeetu Bhaiya" Karthik Rao 01:07
5."Against the Flow" Simran Hora 01:28
6."Hero's Journey" Karthik Rao 03:05
7."21 Days" Simran Hora 01:36
8."With the Flow" Simran Hora 00:58
9."Practical Love" Karthik Rao 01:52
10."Hi Gili Gili" Karthik Rao 00:50
11."Truth" Simran Hora 02:15
12."The Dark Side of the Gentleman" Simran Hora 03:09
Total length:25:01

Additional songs

In addition to the original soundtrack composed by Karthik Rao and Simran Hora, Kota Factory also features two songs composed by Ankur Tewari and his rock band The Ghalat Family.[14][15]

Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Yaaron"Ankur TewariAnkur Tewari & The Ghalat FamilyAnkur Tewari04:12
2."Mohabbat Zindabad"Ankur TewariKarsh Kale, Ankur Tewari & The Ghalat FamilyAnkur Tewari03:29

Reception

Devasheesh Pandey of News18 praised the cinematography, art direction, sound design as well as the acting performances of the show and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 saying that, "Kota Factory maintains an edge over other shows in the genre, courtesy of its on-point, deadpan humour and a relatably bittersweet aftertaste of existential battle that the protagonist is facing."[16] Ishita Sengupta of The Indian Express found the show to be engaging and applauded it saying that, "The ingenuity of Kota Factory lies in its ability to deal with different narrative strands and coalesce them effortlessly." Ishita also felt that the performances of the actors, specially Mayur More and Ranjan Raj, add a lot of value to the show.[17] Rahul Desai of Film Companion was impressed with the mature depiction of the subject at hand and praised the acting performances as well as the writing of the show saying that, "Kota Factory’s biggest asset is its writing which somehow maintains a semi-dramatic progression without compromising on the factual tone of the series."[18] Gautam Batra of Koimoi praised the direction and the acting performances of the show and gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "the web series has taken a very less dramatic route to narrate the story which makes it extremely relatable watch."[19] Priyanka Bansal of The Quint praised the show for presenting a fresh perspective on the education system in India. Impressed with the acting performances, production quality and music of Kota Factory, Priyanka gave the show a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, "If you are looking for something worthwhile, The Kota Factory can be a nice watch that will make you think not about death and gloom but leave you with optimism."[20] Tanul Thakur of The Wire praised the show for being realistic and relatable but felt that the show shies away from criticising the culture of coaching institutes prevalent in the Indian society.[21] Dilip D'Souza writing for The Caravan praised the storytelling, as well.[22]

References
  1. "TVF's Kota Factory – Trailer". YouTube.
  2. "The Viral Fever's Black and White Original, Kota Factory gains impressive response". Indiantelevision.com. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. Puri, Anjali (31 December 2015). "How Kota became India's capital for educational coaching". Business Standard India. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  4. Ghosh, Devarsi (21 April 2019). "TVF's 'Kota Factory' rallies against 'one-sided representation' of Kota's coaching class culture". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  5. Farzeen, Sana (19 April 2019). "Ahsas Channa on Kota Factory: It's the first black and white web series in India". The Indian Express. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. "Here's how Jitendra Kumar aka Jeetu Bhaiya prepared for his role in TVF's Kota Factory". India Today.
  7. "Kota Factory - EP 01 - Inventory - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  8. "Kota Factory - EP 02 - Assembly Line - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  9. "Kota Factory - EP 03 - Optimization - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  10. "Kota Factory - EP 04 - Shutdown - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  11. "Kota Factory - EP 05 - Overhaul | Season Finale - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. "Kota Factory: Season 1 (Music from Tvf Original Series)". Saavn.
  13. "Kota Factory: Season 1 (Music from Tvf Original Series)". iTunes.
  14. "'Kota Factory' gets Ankur Tewari's musical touch". Radio and Music.
  15. "TVF Originals' Kota Factory to feature Ankur Tewari's hit singles". Telly Chakkar.
  16. "Kota Factory Season 1 Review: This Educational Satire is TVF's Best Since Pitchers". News18. 15 May 2019.
  17. "Kota Factory review: An engaging series". The Indian Express. 18 May 2019.
  18. "Kota Factory Review: TVF's Most Evolved Show Since Pitchers". Film Companion. 17 May 2019.
  19. "Kota Factory Review: The New TVF Web Series Is As Magical As It Gets!". Koimoi. 15 May 2019.
  20. "Review: Away From Gloom, 'The Kota Factory' Is A Breath of Fresh Air". The Quint. 21 May 2019.
  21. "'Kota Factory' Fails to Critique the Culture of IIT Coaching Institutes". The Wire.
  22. D'Souza, Dilip (1 June 2019). "A web series gets at the heart of Kota's coaching industry". The Caravan. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
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