Full disclosure: Anuvab Pal, director and scriptwriter of Amazon India’s newest Original series, Going Viral is a very dear friend who I know since the last 25 years. But, when he co-wrote Baar Baar Dekho, even our deep friendship couldn’t bring me to write a few kind words about it. Ergo, this is an honest review.

Amazon India has been trying to come up with original content for a while. There was a series of stand-alone episodes with comics, which caused a furore because no female comics were part of the series. Then there was Amazon India’s big budget original show, The Inside Edge on the IPL, which caused a furore for even considering to star Viveik Oberoi in a lead role. In all fairness, Inside Edge was worth a watch and was entertaining in most parts. But then again, one hopes that a show which cost close to Rs 2 crore per episode, should be watchable.

Going Viral is the next in Amazon India’s new original content for India. The eight-episode series is the first original comedy series commissioned by Amazon. And it’s frankly, quite a fun – and thought-inducing – watch with a galaxy of actors who anyone who has watched theatre, stand-up comedy or even TV in the days of Doordarshan will recognise. It’s also a setting which all of us, especially those of you reading this online, will identify with. It’s about social media. Sort of Black Mirror-meets-The Office-meets-Parks & Recreation.

Going Viral is set in a social media company which essentially does what the title says, helps you Go Viral. The company is run by a husband and wife duo, @Gaurav played by Kunaal Roy Kapur and his wife and CFO, Natasha played by Kubra Sait. The characters who cut across each episode are Frehaan, the operations manager, Shravika, the chief strategy officer and the Peon, who is my favourite.

The show is seen through the camera of someone shooting a documentary on Going Viral and therefore recording all that happens there, as it happens. Each episode is a standalone episode featuring a new client of Going Viral and the solutions or plans Going Viral has for each one, most of which are disastrous or accidental successes. The episodes are connected to each other – which you discover when you watch all eight episodes.

This is not a show for the easily offended or politically correct, as is made apparent in the first episode. Which features @Gaurav trying to make a viral video starring a dwarf dancing with a goat. It’s laugh out loud funny. But if you love diminutive people and feel one mustn’t laugh with or at them, then you’ll be quite hurt.

Going Viral isn’t all ha ha-hee hee, though. There’re a bunch of subjects, issues, and conundrums which we (especially, all of us who are in our Forties and have done our time in various jobs) can’t seem to get our heads around. It’s about the wonder and scourge of social media. And the horror that every digital company and 40-year-old boss faces of needing to hire entitled millennials, who seem to speak a strange lingo and live in their own parallel universe where nothing matters other than their latest Snapchat video or Instagram post. And who is always ready with the next big business idea, but look aghast when they realise that they may actually need to do more than post a Twitter update to make it successful. It’s also about how people communicate only through social media, romantic declarations of love only matter if they’re made on social media, and careers can be made or broken by your social media presence.

And there’s a spot of office romance, unrequited love, divorce and office rivalry.

Four of the episodes really worked for me and had me in splits. The first episode, which establishes what Going Viral does and their dodgy financial dealings and cutting of corners as a startup. How they dodge tax and bill clients. We’ve all heard stories of companies operating like this.  They have a foreign investor and need to keep justifying how they’re spending his money well. And you meet the millennials who people their office, especially Shravika (the chief strategy officer) who is forever billing them for out-of-pocket expenses including stress management therapy because she has stress from working for two days. There’s much to relate to.

Episode 4 which is on Offense is spot on in regard to how the one thing that can guarantee you Kim Kardashian-benchmark fame, is to offend someone, anyone. Episode 5, Scared, hits the nail on the head about what most women columnists and journalists go through on social media. It also cocks a snook at the new creature that is the “feminist columnist”. Radhika Vaz plays a columnist who is being threatened with rape/acid attacks and sundry other fun offers by a troll. She visits Going Viral to ask them to help catch the troll and out him. It’s about trolling the troll and finding out what we all suspect – that our trolls are actually lonely, sweet middle-aged men who just want some female attention. This is by far one of the most entertaining episodes, also because it has Pal acting in it. And at the risk of offending Pal, I have always felt he’s first and foremost a fabulous actor, and a scriptwriter only after that.

Episode 6, Democracy is almost depressing in the truth it hits on. A young hardworking and honest local MLA wants to use social media to inform voters about the policies and development he is involved in. Only to realise that voters couldn’t care less and would rather watch Dhinchak Pooja’s videos than listen to how the sewage and garbage disposal system has been improved in their locality. The Indian voter on social media only cares about scandal and how cool a politician is. It’s distressing when you realise that that’s the truth.

There’s also the charm of watching Rajit Kapur, Loveleen Mishra, Kunal Kamra, Biswa Kalyan Rath popping up in various scenes and entire episodes.

What didn’t work for me is Shravika’s character arc. And I do feel some of the episodes are suddenly a little too serious and full of homilies. Which usually works better in longer running comedy series. But it’s great to see an intelligent English comedy series come out of India, which is as far from Kapil Sharma and Johnny Lever’s school of humour as possible – which seems to be all that Hindi humour has to offer on the telly. It’s young, witty and very non-PC in most parts.

Should you watch it? I would. The episodes swing between 20 to 28 minutes and won’t eat up much of your time. And whether you’re middle aged or a millennial, there’s much to relate to. Also, encouraging a second series of Going Viral would keep Pal away from writing Hindi film scripts which expect Katrina Kaif to emote and traumatise audiences as a result. A double win.

You can watch Going Viral on Amazon Prime.

The author can be reached on Twitter @rajyasree.