In the late 2016, amidst all the drama filled daily soaps and stereotypical storylines, a series came and spoke to younger generations. After the first series was uploaded on YouTube, “Little Things” had almost 10 million views in all of its five episodes.
It follows the lives of Kavya Kulkarni (Mithila Palkar) and Dhruv Vats (Dhruv Sehgal) as the couple live together in Mumbai. Their fights, their patch ups, nooks and crannies of their relationship as well as the characters as individuals were quite relatable to the audience. The intimate, every day feel of the episodes compelled us to think as if Kavya-Dhruv lived next door.
Seeing how fast and promising the series is Netflix was quick to pick up on the series. Last year, the second season came out when it was revealed that the live in relationship is going to be turned into a long distance one as Dhruv has to move to Bangalore for six months to fulfill his career goals and Kavya is alone in Mumbai.
The impact of a long-distance relationship usually revolves around the partner moving to the new place and their perspective. But the show smartly also throws light on the partner left behind. For Kavya, everything is the same, except she has to go through it all alone, in the glaring absence of Dhruv.
All the ‘little things’ she did with him back in the days come back haunting, reminding her of his absence every day.
Sounds terrifying yet familiar? It gets much more so.
Here are a few instances how Little Things season 3 depicted the modern era long distance relationship (LDR), its problems and to some extent how to deal with them.
“Connection Woes”
Early in the series, we see Kavya is out with her friends in a cab. Dhruv is messaging her but Kavya is too tired to respond. She doesn’t have any ill intentions but a long day makes her reluctant to start a chat that might go on for some time.
Along with this instance, there are multiple times in the series when Kavya wants to talk to Dhruv but isn’t sure whether she should or not. She’s worrying that it might disturb him.
After all, Dhruv has found something he genuinely loves in a city where he wanted to be. She doesn’t want to be a spoil sport with her worries. Instead she finds new friends she can hangout with to fill the void that Dhruv’s absence has left.
“Only Social?”
Dhruv and Kavya’s social circle gets bigger. New days with new activities and new faces. Kavya and Dhruv are both seen hanging out with other people way more often than the previous two seasons.
The season also shows how although they are still in touch, the little things have changed. The moments they witnessed together or were the first to be notified through phone calls, are now only the status on their phones. It becomes hard to grasp that how a person who was once so close to you becomes so distant (literally and figuratively).
The episode “Rectangle” encapsulates how their collective lives are now fitted in big/small rectangles.
It gets so awkward that when there are talks of Dhruv’s return to Mumbai, things gets strange.
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“Alone and Lonely”
Kavya met Dhruv shortly after she moved to Mumbai. In the first episode, ‘Migration’ when she is first told that Dhruv is moving away, even she admits the fact that she has never really lived alone.
The daily responsibilities and the pain of being without her partner triggers her and she behaves unlike herself to others as well as to Dhruv.
“What About The Others”
The reality check comes when Dhruv and Kavya visit their hometowns of Delhi and Nagpur respectively. In the episodes, “Senior Citizens” and “Vertical Housing”, they both notice how their parents are growing older.
It’s not sudden but very subtle. Like the lines in their foreheads, few grey hairs here and there. These signs have slowly crept in.
After meeting her family and childhood friends, Kavya is conflicted on where her home is actually. Is that in a apartment in Mumbai where she has no one to go home to or is that in the warmth of her birthplace? She understands that she needs to take care of her family as well. This internal conflict leads her to contemplate something that will probably change the course of her and Dhruv’s relationship.
“Reality Check”
In the third to last episode, they both are ‘reunited’ in Mumbai. But Dhruv misses Bangalore and feels out of place in a place where he felt at home once upon a time. Kavya talks about how she’s tired of seeing Dhruv in rectangles, how she feels entrapped in them. Dhruv confesses that he misses the little things about them.
In the final episode of Little Things season 3, a sadness arrives again as Kavya now considers moving back to Nagpur to stay close to her family and old friends. Finally, Kavya asks Dhruv, “What were those days? When we used to spend all those days making sandwiches, sleeping, watching TV, killing mosquitoes.”
Those days were in Season 1, where it was only a cheesy feel good series but in Season 3 it has grown mature. Season 3 shows the love and the conflicts in it too.
We don’t know what the future holds for Kavya and Dhruv, whether they find their ‘home’ or not. The new instalment builds up where season 2 ended, but also offers a sort of resolution with much more clarity.
Images – Google
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