Why Netflix's LITTLE THINGS is a perfect showcase of Indian millennial relationships
A still from the show ‘Little Things’. Photo: IMDB
The third season of Little Things forays into deeper issues in Indian millennial relationships
The first season of Little Things (produced by Dice Media) came out to instant popularity on YouTube in 2016. Kavya (Mithila Palkar) and Dhruv’s (Dhruv Sehgal) story made us all go “that’s-so-us”. The show depicted that modern love in everyday life was, in fact, about the small things.
We wished for more, and they delivered.
The show's popularity and relatable quotient brought itself to the growing array of Indian content on Netflix, and it’s third season was released last month on the streaming service. While earlier seasons showed Kavya and Dhruv’s live-in relationship and changing dynamics, things change further in the latest release: Dhruv has moved to Bangalore for a research project and Kavya is left to deal with the aftereffects, so beginning their long-distance relationship. While it’s a whole new environment for Dhruv, Kavya struggles with the changes within her familiar world. Promises of keeping in touch and being there for each other are made. But it’s not easy for the two to keep up with these promises.
The relationship between the primary protagonists of Little Things speak to larger universal truth of young relationships. For many of us, after spending a considerable amount of time with each other in a relationship, boundaries can begin to blur, and often, we begin to feel like one unit. We’re interdependent on each other, and we don’t know any other way of living.
On Little Things, Kavya realises this, too. Her life, days and plans until now, pretty much revolved around Dhruv. She’s lonely without him. In an early scene, she is seen scrolling through her contact list to see whom she could chill with for the night. In every relationship, it is important to find yourself, and look for your ‘me time’. Your partner cannot be your only source of happiness. While Dhruv slowly learns to adapt to his surroundings, Kavya, too begins to understand this truth and learns to make new friends.
The relationship is further complicated, road-blocked by phone screens across long distances. The leads spend 180 days apart through montages of video calls and hanging up on each other, curt replies and throwing fits. They have different schedules, and keeping up with each other’s lives turns into frustration and relentless arguments. Soon, the phone calls become forced and mandatory. The couple that shared the tiniest things with each other in the past are now shown editing things out. As it has often been the case of relationships across borders, it brings us to think: can modern love really survive the problems of distance and digital age?
Moments like Kavya telling Dhruv she’s tired of seeing him in the ‘rectangles’ of the phone screen, or when, he quips that he doesn’t remember the back of her head, show the nature of the problems we now face. It is symbolic of how the digital medium has gotten in the way of our relationships. We’re disconnected, in spite of being connected. It’s problematic when a text goes unresponded immediately, or, like one scene in the show, a photo is shared on Instagram before being shared with the partner.
Little Things perfectly showcases millennial relationships in an increasingly urbanised India, and also reflects what's happening in other parts of the society as young adults today are more individualised than ever.
A lot of the things we do in our relationships, and the decisions we make, are a result of other external factors. This is a running theme for the later episodes. For the first time in the show, we’re introduced to the world outside of the leads. We meet Dhruv’s families and friends when he visits Delhi to help his mom move out of his childhood home; and Kavya’s extended circle when she visits Nagpur to attend her father’s retirement party. The episodes that follow are some of the finest of the season in terms of both writing and screenplay, sure to make all those who pursue careers in different cities a little homesick.
When we leave our families and life back at home, to make a new life—for relationships or careers—we fail to realise that our parents are ageing, whether we’re there to witness it or not. Little Things shows this passage of time in heart-touching scenes, like when Kavya finds her father’s pile of medicines in a mithai dabba, or Dhruv’s mother’s creaking, cracking heels.
Dhruv resonates with how much has changed in his absence, and feels detached. He cannot relate to his mother anymore, or the struggles his family is going through. The show aptly portrays the sense of selfishness and guilt you feel when you go back to your parents after a very long time.
There is another endearing moment when Kavya’s mother removes earwax from her daughter’s ear on a lazy afternoon. As parents age, they tend to feel lonely; for Dhruv’s mother, time has always run slow, and now, she’s used to being by herself. These bits of loneliness hark back to parts of the movie The Lunchbox (2013), and the beautiful small moments of isolation felt by its lead character Sajjan Fernandes’ (Irrfan Khan).
Little Things also comments on the social structures that exist in big cities. When Dhruv asks his mom to think of the view from her new 14th-floor home in Delhi's extended suburbs, she laments over the liveliness — the balcony conversations with hawkers and friends — from her current surroundings that she will miss. That exchange is symptomatic of how the changing nature of Indian cities, due to a push towards urbanisation, is erasing the charm and humanity that's more present in the relationships built in small cities, and how a growing demand for the new way of life is causing parts of the old world to decay and be left behind.
The repels of long-distance are visible when the couple reunites. Dhruv feels lost. The couple address their issues in trademark, soul-bearing conversations that remind one of Richard Linklater’s Before (1995) series. They discuss the idea of marriage, commitment, and a daunting future. These are common pressures of family, marriage, and adulting; we’ve all been through them too.
An entire episode is dedicated to the flashbacks of their past relationships. While this segment drags longer than necessary, it explains to the viewers why the leads made their decisions. The topic of marriage is handled breezily and not overdramatised. Why jump into something when you’re not ready for it yet? It’s a question that is left for the viewers to answer.
Dhruv longs the comfort of Bangalore, and wishes to be a part of another research project that might require him to be away. Kavya, too, finds that she longs to get back to her roots—for her parents and herself. Their priorities, for now, have changed.
Little Things perfectly showcases millennial relationships in an increasingly urbanised India, and also reflects what's happening in other parts of the society as young adults today are more individualised than ever. The background score, particularly, often says more than the dialogue could. The show makes you cry, laugh, and introspect.
The leads are left to deal with the agony of career versus love. Are we really being selfish in choosing our careers over our relationships? Are our ambitions really driving us away from our loved ones? Have we put our relationships on a pedestal where we fail to address other priorities?
And the ever-impending question, ‘what about us?’ We are a generation that is searching answers for questions we aren’t really sure of. Little Things 3 attempts to capture these explorations; and in an attempt to find some answers, the expedition only uncovers more questions.
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Nidhi Choksi Dhakan has worked with The Hindustan Times, The Times of India, HT Brunch, and G2. She is a regular contributor at Kool Kanya.in. A Mumbaikar by heart, Dhakan shifted to Dubai in 2018. You can find her art on Instagram @sketchbook_stories and her bylines here: https://nc16ultimate.wixsite.com/nidhichoksidhakan
