Hostel Daze is a nostalgic, albeit superficial, dive into campus life
Hostel Daze is a great feel good pick if you want to see college living and all the fun it entails through a comedic lens. They focus so much on the comedy that you miss a deeper perspective in the episodes. It is entertaining but is quite surface level in critiquing the campus life it shows.
The Comedy of Errors in the Wing
This show has great chemistry with its group of four roommates, conveying cute but relatably awkward energy as they navigate their first semester together. I love that the writing is able to capture the specific and somewhat chaotic nature of hostel life, especially as people come and go and relationships are built one day, only to be forgotten the next.
The performances are great, but the characters have a lot of tropes. For example, the ‘jock’ has a lot of friction with the ‘night owl.’ And though character conflict is expected within the framework of the genre, the show Fish Out of Water seems to set up thought-provoking moments to show the harsh nation of academia and social life only to fall back on lazy tropes and deliver the expected.
A Surface-Level Approach to Campus Culture
There is a clear discrepancy between the series’ comedic tone and the more serious implications of the world it shows. Many appreciate the comedy and the take on the hostel experience, but the show glosses over many systemic problems of these places. The show frames these issues as the growing pains of life and something that just has to be endured.
By framing these issues aseries of growing pains that just have to be endured, the show trivializes the struggles and fears students deal with. The show is easy to watch, but lacks substance in terms of what it wants to convey about the education system.
Who Should Tune In and Who Should Skip
This series is perfect for those who want to have some nostalgia or for those who want a low stakes comedy that reminds them of student life. After the last digital-first Indian comedy, you’ll find the pace and the character dynamics familiar and a comfortable return.
However, those looking for a gritty or complicated drama that addresses the more difficult side of living on campus and student life will find this offering to be really shallow. Through its jokes and social commentary, a comedy that has more bite will frustrate those looking to engage with a series that better tackles its own premise.
