RISING comedy star Mawaan Rizwan turned his acclaimed stage show into the recently premiered six-part sitcom Juice, which is available in full on BBC iPlayer. He portrays a gay British Asian man named Jamma, who works in a marketing agency and doesn’t know anything about real responsibility.
The ‘man baby’ is unwilling to fully commit to his devoted white boyfriend, who has a polar opposite personality and works as a therapist. He also has an overbearing mother, a depressed father who seems to have given up on life and a much cooler younger brother who everyone likes more than him. As Jamma battles his many anxieties, the surroundings start to change, like his bed turning into a tunnel or the walls closing in.
Although it subtly borrows elements from other shows, Juice is perhaps the most original comedy featuring British Asian protagonists ever made in the UK.
There are plenty of funny moments throughout the series and great welldefined characters. The ensemble includes lead star Mawaan Rizwan’s real life mother and brother. Shahnaz Rizwan is brilliant and there could quite easily have been a more entertaining series, centred on her. Even Jeff Mirza and Emily Lloyd Saini are great in relatively small roles. The surrealist element along with clever touches, like the same actor subtly playing different background roles and how the mobile phone conversations are presented, add an extra layer.
Also, look out for a great black and white story angle explaining the mother’s past, which is superbly done.
Although the jokes keep flowing, the storyline in each episode should have been much stronger. Also, there are perhaps some scenes of unnecessary sex and nudity, which would exclude a large part of audiences that were not needed. The lead character is also inconsistent in his personality, which at times makes him more annoying than loveable. That doesn’t take away from Juice being a path-breaking show and one that can get better.
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