‘Thinkistan’ review: An engaging narrative depicting the advertising landscape of the nineties.

Thinkistan, MX Player’s new web series is a drama set in the world of advertising in India during the 90s. Loosely inspired by Mad Men, Thinkistan creates its own world, a world full of features that resembles the Ad world during those times, the language divide, the politics, and the attraction of Indian advertising industry towards westernization.

The story involves two people who enter the Ad world at almost the same time. Hema from Mumbai is this cool guy who had a settled career which he quit to somehow land into the world of advertising. Amit is our desi guy from Bhopal who constantly struggles to fit in the world which is giving more preference to English copywriters.

Ad man Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy has used all his experience of the Ad world to create a story worth telling. His take on the linguistic divide and women empowerment are fresh and the writing is pretty crisp. The narrative features Mandira Bedi, Naveen Kasturi, Shravan Reddy, Satyadeep Misra, and Vasuki Sunkavalli in pivotal roles. Naveen Kasturia as Amit is pretty close to perfection as it gets and Shravan Reddy as Hema is charming. Mandira Bedi as the boss is quiet convincing and so are many other characters.

Talking about the flaws now, though there are not many, Padmakumar fails to create a more realistic world as all his characters are seen getting things done quiet too easily with no signs of conflicts and corporate politics. But still it is a compelling drama that justifies the need to have 11 episodes in the series.