Summary
Episode 1 explores an unlikely partnership between a mother and a daughter in a heartwarming and thought-provoking tale.
This review of Amazon original series Modern Love Hyderabad season 1, episode 1, “My unlikely pandemic dream partner,” contains spoilers.
During the height of the covid-19 pandemic, we had a lot of choices to make. But, with lockdowns and restrictions, we were forced to spend time with some people more than usual. Modern Love Hyderabad episode 1 explores an unlikely partnership between a mother and a daughter in a heartwarming and thought-provoking tale.
Modern Love Hyderabad season 1, episode 1 recap
Episode 1 opens with Noori in surgery for her knee. As she goes to sleep, she remembers her fractured relationship with her mother, Mehrunissa. In the next scene, Noori’s mother visits her at home during her post-surgery recovery. It feels like a long time since they have connected as her mother checks out her photos. Time has been lost. Noori suggests they keep their distance, but you can feel the lost love between the mother and daughter.
While eating together, the Prime Minister announces a lockdown in India due to the virus. There’s uncertainty about when the lockdown will be lifted. Mehrunissa is stuck with her daughter Noori and they are both mortified.
Mehrunissa decides to be proactive and goes out to get groceries. She cooks for them both, and Noori loves the smell; she has missed her mother’s cooking. While eating the food, she gets emotional and cries. It’s nostalgic, reminding Noori of her childhood.
Slowly but surely, the mother and daughter bond, as Mehrunissa looks after Noori and her knee. By day 4, they are smiling at each other.
As the days wear on, Noori gets angry at her mother for sneaking out to get food due to the risks of the virus. The mother and daughter argue intensely, discussing who Noori married and the complexities that her husband is from a different community. Noori’s deceased father is discussed, and Mehrunissa tells her daughter he died from a broken heart. After an inevitable argument with their wounds coming up, plenty of healing is required between the mother and daughter. Noori checks out an old garment that reminds her of her father and she sobs.
By dinner time, the tensions settle down and they offer peace to each other. Later on, in the middle of the night, Mehrunissa cannot sleep and she wants to sleep next to her daughter — Noori allows her to sleep next to her. Mehrunissa brings up her deceased husband, and the pain his death brought. Noori sympathizes with her.
The ending
The lockdown is extended, and the mother and daughter feel closer with each passing day. They make it to day 41.
In the middle of the night, Mehrunissa feels mischievous and wants to sneak out of the house, so she brings her daughter with her, despite resistance from her. The pair sneak around the streets and laugh together. Mehrunissa takes her daughter to a place she visited with her father after they married. They sit and eat with each other in the silent, empty city. Their wounds are now healed.
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You can watch Modern Love Hyderabad with a subscription to Amazon Prime.
