A woman sits on a plane, fidgeting with her necklace. An ocean away, an equally nervous man drives to the airport to meet her. A flashback, years earlier, to colourful Jaipur: the two meet with their families for a potential arranged marriage. The families aren’t convinced it’s a match, but the couple decide to go ahead with it anyway.
Written by Indian-born, Australian-raised Mithila Gupta and produced by the team behind Colin from Accounts, Four Years Later kicks off as Sri (Shahana Goswami) and Yash (Akshay Ajit Singh) reunite after years of long distance.
Sri is en route to Sydney, where Yash has been doing a medical traineeship. In their years apart, they have tried to keep intimacy alive through video calls, which fluctuate between sexual and tender. They are an odd couple: Sri is headstrong and independent, while Yash is quietly stoic. “You’re so predictable,” Sri says to her husband; “And you’re so reckless,” he bites back. This tension both balances them out, and sometimes threatens to tear them apart.
Sri is not what might be expected of a good ethnic daughter – she’s willing to talk back and stand up for herself. On an early date to the zoo, the couple connects over a tiger that Sri relates to as “she looks so depressed and has nowhere to go”. The animal becomes a motif throughout the show, depicted in both a necklace and a large stuffed toy, that symbolises both entrapment and ferocity – the contradiction that is Sri’s inner life.
Yash’s work at the hospital is relentless and unforgiving, and his upcoming final exams are a source of constant stress, as is the pressure from his family. It’s all exacerbated by his punishing supervisor Arun (Roy Joseph), who’s not willing to bond over their shared heritage; when Yash asks where in India he is from, Arun replies, ocker and unimpressed: “Sydney.” Yash experiences blatant racism from patients, but Arun does not – the only difference between them is their accents. Isolated and anxious, Yash finds comfort in Jamal (Taj Aldeeb), a Syrian woman who works at the hospital as a cleaner, who has a very different interpretation of the meaning of their friendship.
Back in Jaipur, Sri is struggling: Yash’s family will not allow her to work and his father’s treatment of her borders on coercive control (though this aspect of the story eventually vanishes, never to be touched on again). When she finally arrives in Australia, Yash is so busy with work and study that they barely spend time together. Frustrated and lonely, Sri strikes up an unlikely friendship with Gabs (Kate Box), who hires Sri to work in her cafe. Through this new bond, Sri finds a sense of emancipation and autonomy, while also sharing her culture with Gabs, who is fascinated by Indian traditions.
This is a dual fish-out-of-water story: Yash is struggling to adapt to Australia’s lifestyle and customs, but Sri thrives in her new environment. Yash is reluctant to start a family, but Sri wants nothing more. Old ghosts creep out to pull the couple apart, but despite it all, they try to find ways to stay together. Goswami and Singh tease out the passion between their characters, as well as the anger and grief when they suffer a devastating loss.
Four Years Later is beautifully shot, with stunning natural and metropolitan scenery captured in thoughtful cinematography. The show depicts Indian culture in a vibrant and loving way (the characters speak both Hindi and English), the emotional beats of Sri and Yash’s relationship feel relatable, and the diasporic struggle rings true.
But Four Years Later suffers from uneven pacing, unconvincing dialogue and characterisation, and occasional histrionics. It is all over the place narratively: Sri and Yash are fighting, they’re in love, they hate each other, he’s not picking up his phone, she’s leaving, he did this, she did this … Particularly for characters in their late 30s, this all sometimes feels exhausting, like listening to a friend’s constant relationship dramas and finding your empathy wearing thin.
The sex is surprisingly intense and realistic, but the non-physical love scenes are saccharine. Scenes at Yash’s workplace play out like imitations of Grey’s Anatomy or, closer to home, All Saints – his stress is understandable, but everything is pushed to its dramatic, soapy limit.
The difference between lively, spirited Jaipur and the more pedestrian Sydney is palpable, as is the gap between Yash and Sri. Four Years Later is a story about finding your own way, even when it hurts. But, much like life, this show is an uneven journey, with more than a few bumps along the way.
Four Years Later is on SBS and on SBS On Demand
