Desi Rascals 3 – Clash of the pyjama-pant egos, girly kiss-and make-up, biryani virgin scores

August 12 2015

It was touted as the ‘most explosive’ episode to date as viewers were promised a modern day showdown of Titan-like proportions. Did it go off with a bang or just peter out?

By Chayya Syal

WAS IT “Desi Rascals” or harping in Hounslow?

The tension from episode 2 well and truly came to a crescendo. It was like something out of an old Indian soap; petty arguments, dramatic sobbing, making biryani for the first time, repairing friendships and looking for love in all the wrong places.

We were given a unique insight into the world of male beauty, as Adam and Solly discussed the trials and tribulations of maintaining a preened exterior. All we know is this: a beard = prosperity = money and girls.

And there seemed to be a grain of truth in this, as Moses caught the attention of newcomer Farha – who joined Desi Rascals Series 2 along with Elayna and Harjit.

She was immediately drawn to his luscious beard and wanted Moses to teach her how to DJ (despite not knowing what DJ stands for – awkward!!). A potential love interest between these two could be particularly strained as Farha is quite full on and Moses is still getting over Jo. I wonder what Nat would have to say about this!

Farha (2R) likes Moses but what do Kavita (2L), Rita (1R) and especially Natalie think...

But regardless, maybe there is a connection between bearded men, prosperity and women – we’ll keep you updated on this theory.

In honour of his birthday, Moses was inaugurated onto the Hall of Fame in the PMG gym. British-Asian singer, Juggy D, belted out a couple of his classics as he made a cameo-appearance at Moses’ party.

This, of course, was not without drama as Jasmin and Ross had an argument which nearly saw them break up.

Predictably, they didn’t break up and we basically saw any progress that Feminism made, be flushed down the toilet, as Jasmin bleated: “Girls always say things that they don’t mean.” Germaine Greer, look away now.

Solly decided to ask Yasmin out on a date, in what was one of the most awkward and bizarre moments of the series so far.

Solly deserves an award for being so awkward, as his ‘meeting’ was all too reminiscent of his ill-fated interview with Claude Littner, from The Apprentice.

He arrived with a ‘proposal’ for Yasmin despite having no knowledge of what her business was about. We will watch with baited breath to see how this pans out – personally I am rooting for Yasmin to annihilate him!

In a touching moment, which was too brief and skimmed over, we saw Jasmin and Jo attend a Hindi class. It was a refreshing scene, as they both discussed their love of Hindi songs but their inability to actually understand the lyrics which was glossed over. Similarly, the older generation, were given minimal airtime which questions the purpose of having them on the show. These thought-provoking scenes were overshadowed by the pointless drama which began at Shmoyel’s party.

It started off quite well, as Yasmin and Kavita made up, with Yasmin promising to take Feryal to task about her behaviour. Now that’s a showdown I want to see! Their truce came following Adam’s efforts to reunite the feuding girls, but alas, it was not enough!

Trouble began at the buffet table, as Owais decided to address Feryal about her meddling behaviour.

Whenever Owais and Feryal speak, it’s a bit like water being poured over hot oil – it never ends well. As their argument grew more and more heated (if you’ll pardon the pun), Adam decided to step in to defend Feryal.

Instead of calming the situation, Adam basically proved to us that he should definitely stick to his day job, never apply to become a UN Peacekeeper and to never take on Owais again. In a clumsy exchange of lukewarm insults, which involved Owais’ upbringing and Adam’s pyjama-like trousers (don’t ask), this fallout was not as explosive or as controversial as various cast members claimed on social media.

From the attempted hype that was created, I was half expecting to see a WWE style showdown, with Owais using the chair on Adam. I’ve seen seagulls fight better than Owais and Adam – there was nothing Jerry Springer-like about their ‘fight’ because it boiled down to male insecurity and their need to constantly validate their masculinity to themselves and the rest of the cast.

Hopefully, this will all be nipped in the bud, as Owais has a heart-to-heart with Prakash (we’ve missed him!) about his bull-in-a-china-shop like behaviour and take a lesson in discretion. Will Owais apologise to Feryal or will she stop meddling in everyone’s affairs?

This week, we didn’t see too much of Jo, but fear not! Our golden girl is back in episode four, with some news that reduces the Shah family to tears – let’s hope that they’re tears of joy!

Top pic: Owais (R) and Joe; Yasmin and Kavita (L); Celia

*Desi Rascals airs every Wednesday at 8pm on Sky 1 or catch the repeats on Thursday at 8pm and Sunday at 9pm”

Previously
Episode 2 review http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/desi-rascals-stirring-it-up/
Series 2 preview and episode 1 review http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/desi-rascals-solly-jo-and-shmoyel-on-series-2/