Three Shades of Brown

Web series reviewed by Hasina Momtaz

I wasn’t completely sure what to expect when I was invited to an exclusive screening of the full series of Three Shades of Brown by the lovely Shai Hussain, who is also the writer, director and producer of this new web series.

When I received the press info and saw that the three main characters were referred to as Nas the’ rude boy’, Harry the ‘coconut’ and Ravi the ‘freshie’, I must admit I was a little sceptical and expected stereotypes and clichés galore.

I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the wit, humour and occasional touches of poignancy.  This is as much attributable to the writing skills of Shai as well as his fantastic trio of actors.

The series follows three very different Asian guys who, due to circumstances, end up sharing a flat in London.

Synopsis:

When Harry tells his best friend Ravi that he’s moving to the capital to start a new job, Ravi advises him to move in with his close family friend, Nas. However, when Ravi’s girlfriend dumps him, he accompanies Harry to London and ends up sleeping on the sofa until (he expects) his ex will eventually realise her mistake and take him back. Nas, unimpressed with both Harryʼs straight-laced personality and Raviʼs unexpected length of intrusion, soon plans to throw them both out. Unfortunately for him, an unexpected twist of events means he has to convince them to stay. And that’s when the fun begins…

So- who are these three guys?

Nas – Rude Boy

Nas talks the talk, but rarely walks the walk. Everything he’s got has been given to him by his parents, though he doesn’t like sharing this fact. His life is going nowhere, with his days revolving around playing computer games, DJing and eating vast quantities of chocolate whilst lazing around in his Y-Fronts. Though he lacks people skills (understatement of the year), his aggressive exterior hides a fragile heart he holds for his loved ones.

Ravi – Freshie

Ravi is hopelessly in love with his girlfriend Shalini, so when she dumps him over Facebook, he heads to London to confront her and try to make things right. He just can’t understand how Bollywood makes it look so easy. Though the advisory methods of surrogate elder brothers Nas and Harry differ drastically, their only wish is to see this young one man up!

 

Harry – Coconut

Harry has never had much respect or any interest towards his South Asian roots. His parents never pushed it on him, and if it wasn’t for his skin colour, he could positively pass for white. He has a different girl for every day of the week, but has never been one for love. When he moves down to London to live with Nas on Ravi’s recommendation, he’s baffled as to how Ravi could ever be friends, let alone best friends, with a crude guy like Nas.

For those of you who like British Asian comedy in the ‘Men Behaving Badly’ mould, get online and get watching! From now on, your Monday evenings won’t be complete without your three-minute fix of these three guys and their take on life, love and the universe!

Starring:
Muzz Khan as the Rude Boy (from British comedy 4 Lions)
Omar Khan as the Freshie (Starred in Bollywood film Yeh Jawaani Hain Deewani with Ranbir Kapoor)
Navinder Bhatti as the Coconut (from Amar Akbar n Tony)

Written & Directed by Shai Hussain, this follows the success of his radio plays Reality Check and Resolutions broadcast on BBC Asian Network and Til Jihad Do Us Part broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Website – www.threeshadesofbrown.co.uk
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/3ShadesBrown/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/3ShadesBrown
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCIGhWgLz8g