Pop culture may have us believe that college life is about young love, designer brands and all things hunky-dory. But director Akarsh Khurana is exploring its gritty side with Jugaadistan. The Lionsgate Play series, starring Sumeet Vyas, Parambrata Chatterjee, Arjun Mathur and Rukshar Dhillon, does away with the rose-tinted glasses through which campus capers are often seen, and instead depicts how college politics and jugaad dominate these years.

The show is a change of pace for Khurana, who earlier helmed the feel-good Mismatched. “While I have done youth-centric offerings before, this was a different take on it. [It shows] the darker side of our college years, and Delhi like we don’t see it often [on screen]. We delve into an array of issues — college politics, student dynamics, side-incomes — all of which are significant in how people’s lives are shaped in their formative years. I enjoyed the track of investigative journalism that runs parallel to the student shenanigans,” he says.

Jugaadistan is the OTT platform’s second Indian original after Hiccups and Hookups (2021). Rohit Jain, MD, south Asia and networks, Lionsgate, says, “With Hiccups and Hookups, we explored modern family dynamics; this time, we take a real tour of campus life.”

Mrinalini Khanna, VP, originals, adds, “The team has [depicted] the innocence of growing up and the seriousness of making life-changing decisions.”