“Bakaiti’ review: A cash-strapped family gets on each other’s nerves – and yours too at times

The title makes it clear. No surprises here. Don’t complain that you haven’t been warned. Do remember to turn down the volume.

The ZEE5 series Bakaiti – nonsensical talk in Hindi – is about the Katarias from Ghaziabad. That old saying about a family that fights together but stays together? It sounds rubbishy – bakaiti, actually – but applies to the Katarias, who start and end their days by sniping at each other at high volume.

The lawyer Sanjay (Rajesh Tailang) lives in his ancestral house with his wife Sushma (Sheeba Chadha), daughter Naina (Tanya Sharma) and son Bharat (Aditya Shukla). There’s also Sanjay’s father-in-law (Ramesh Rai), who is addicted to his phone.

The family is struggling financially, forcing Sanjay to rent out a room. His children react hysterically, but are forced to accept the inevitable. It helps that the tenant, Chirag (Keshav Sadhna), is personable, especially to Naina.

But the problems are never-ending. Like the water meter in the house that nobody remembers to turn off on time, the Katarias have forgotten what it means to be a family. They turn on each other so vigorously that you expect a murder or two. The siblings are especially adept at slanging matches so loud, mean-spirited and hurtful that it’s...

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