Why the Heartbeat series on Hotstar could be your next binge-watch

Its long time since I have written a blog post about films or web series.
But this one series called Heartbeat, available on Hotstar, became my favourite web series, and it has been written so well and filmed so perfectly.

The writer, the directors, and the actors have all done their parts in carving this beautiful piece of story.

The seven characters I mentioned below have not just acted but lived their respective roles on camera until the director says cut.

It’s a medical drama where the doctors and interns not only hone their professional skills inside the hospital, but the real beauty and uniqueness begin when the story explores the personal lives of the professionals involved.

Plot: The story revolves around Dr Rina, who is the protagonist and is a senior intern. She grew up in an orphanage, and after hardships and obstacles, she decided to become a doctor with the sole intention of seeing her mother. All of her dreams come true.

But her mother, senior Dr Rathi, finds it hard to accept her or address her as her daughter. Why is it so? Why is the mother-daughter duo exhibiting only a professional relationship, hiding their destined personal bond?
Throughout seasons 1 and 2, Rina is in search of her real identity or someone whom she can address as her parents wholeheartedly without fear and a sense of belonging. Answers to the above questions unfold most intriguingly as you watch the series.

The topmost characters of Heartbeat that will make you watch the series right away.

Radhi
Reena
Rocky
Teju
Arjun
Dev
Vijay

Radhi: A daring strong woman and a skilled doctor to the world, but she hides her motherly love for Rina for the fear of losing the life she built with Dev, her loving husband.
Though she is unable to accept Rina, she is happy that the daughter she once left behind is now near her.
All the tenderness she successfully hid inside her strong personality breaks down when she sees Rina fighting for life.

She admits to an unconscious Reena, “I am sorry. I have caused you a lot of pain. Be angry with me, and I am okay with it. But please come back.

A longing to love Reena is always inside her, but she forcibly suppresses it with pain and tears that she always keeps to herself.

“The heart of a mother and the limitless love it holds can never be locked in for long, as it flows spontaneously when she sees her child in pain.”

“Mother may or may not show love, but she is the one who holds it immensely in her heart, and nothing in the world can ever be compared to the love of a mother,” and even the strong, bold Dr Radhi character shows no exception to this fact.

Rina: A passionate doctor in search of her identity. She had a difficult and lonely childhood in which tears and questions were always a part. But eventually, when she starts working, she finds wonderful people starting from her house owner to all her friends in the hospital who are always good to her. Arjun her lover loves, cares, and understands her in her highs and lows. Teju, Sonia, Guna, Naveen, and Rocky are friends of Rina, so they never hesitate to take a stand for her. They prioritise the friendship they have with Rina over anything.

“When God or a higher power gives you a life without a family, it blesses you with people who show up for you always way more than your family could ever do.” becomes evident when Rina has all of them to support her.

Despite all of these, she senses emptiness and seeks acceptance from her mother and is totally unaware of her father.

When everyone she trusts hides the truth from her, she realises that her father is the one she can completely trust in the whole world.

To her heart that never knew what it is to be someone’s inevitable part of life, her father’s love, care, and concern become an antidote.

Rocky: He is a friend of Reena who says, “Don’t worry, we will find a solution,” even before she tells him what actually happened. When he saw her at her worst, he never hesitated to say to her mother or lover that they lied to her and played with her emotions. He lashes out at them regardless of their reputed positions at the hospital.
Without a second thought, he makes himself available and prioritises her peace, happiness, and comforts her in her hard times.

“A true friend stays by you in your highs and lows and never complains, but makes you laugh your heart out when you find it hard to even give a smile.”

This is the character that will make every viewer wish they had a Rocky in their life.

Teju: An intellectual person and skilled medico who is excellent at making logical arguments, and her guess will always turn out to be the truth.

When Rina gets hospitalised, she sits by her side not just as a doctor offering timely medical help. With all the tears that welled in her eyes to see her friend fight her battle between life and death, she keeps speaking to her and boosts Reena’s morale so she can win her battle against death and recover soon.
Teju inspires us because she is never afraid of anything, not even losing her job at the hospital.

She believes in her skills and says, “I can work in a clinic and still be a good doctor there.”

“The one who believes in their abilities is never defeated.” Time, place, situations, or opportunities don’t really matter to them as long as they believe in themselves.

“Believe in yourself, for nothing in the world can ever stop you thereafter.”

Arjun: A person who can do anything or take any risk to save the love of his life. But every time, whether he tells the truth or tries to hide it, things turn against him. Rina finds it hard to forgive him each time.
 Despite all the risks and challenges he takes to save Reena, his one mistake shows up, and he goes unnoticed by Reena.

“Besides the right things you do, it is only your mistake that speaks for itself, so it is always better to think well before taking action.”

He is a reflection of a man in love, yet with his flaws, which makes him realistic.

Even before Rina finds her mother and friends, she meets Arjun and believes he could be her destined gift. A partner who could choose her again and again irrespective of how life gets. But her trust gets shattered even when he hides a truth that she has longed to know all her life.

“When your trustworthy person rethinks the trust they have in you, that is when you feel the most deceived.”

Arjun realises his side of the mistake when she ignores him once she regains consciousness post her accident.

Arjun’s character emphasises the fact,

“Trust once broken does not give you an easy chance to rebuild it.”

Never take the trust of a person who trusts you with their life for granted, as it’s hard to imagine a life without them.

Dev: He is a man who loves Rathi with all his heart and accepts her for who she is. He understands her professional burden and makes himself available for his kids. He goes the extra mile to be a husband who supports her, pampers and comforts her. He offers to help her make clearer decisions when she gets too emotional thinking about her past. Even though he gets humiliated to know Rina is Rathi’s daughter initially, he eventually accepts Rina as a part of his family.

“A man truly in love with you always treats you as his priority and accepts every person who completes your world as his too.”

Even when such men are rare, Dev’s character shows that a man could make life easier and happier for the woman in his life if he decides to do so.

Vijay: A new entrant, a doctor and a medical investigation officer with a personal life with more twists than the case he investigates.
Vijay as a character – The way it is written and performed takes the series to a whole new level of perfection.

Vijay hears about Rathi, who played an important part in his past, and that rekindles his memories.

The universe makes Rathi and Vijay meet again, and this time not as school friends who were once in love, but as colleagues working as senior doctors at the hospital.
Vijay carries the burden of the past, regret, pain, and guilt of not being able to keep the promise he made to Rathi.

His intuition senses that there is some truth about the child he was made to believe that he lost, which was yet to be uncovered.

He meets Rina as a senior intern and observes her smartness while handling a case and appreciates her wholeheartedly.
However, things change when Vijay finds it disappointing to handle the attitude that Rina shows to him.

Rathi does everything to prevent Vijay and Rina from working together.

Meanwhile, Vijay showcases his qualities of being a clever investigation officer, a skilled senior doctor who gives opportunities for the interns to learn. He gives them guidance and exhibits leadership qualities of a mentor and redirects them to ways they can grow professionally.

He also takes responsibility when something goes wrong. As a compassionate and kind man, he handles every situation that arises at the hospital in the most sensible and empathetic way so that they don’t affect the people involved.

Eventually, the universe works in favour of Vijay and Rina and brings them together, and they both soon realise an unknown yet soulful connection with each other.

“Bonds of destiny could be delayed but never denied.”

They bond over a signature upma that Rina makes after a funny encounter she has while giving a lift to Vijay on her scooty.
“Often the simplest things that happen in life become a spark for a life-changing moment to be unleashed.”

Rina takes Vijay to the orphanage where she grew up and shows him her part of life she shares rarely with only the most important people in her life.

“Some relationships could be masked because of the cruelty of fate and the command of time, but when they reveal themselves, they come as a precious blessing with power manifold, even more than you ever prayed for or deserved.”

The bond that was hidden by the call of destiny gets revealed. But when Vijay and Reena know their truth, both could not meet. Reena meets with a deadly accident.
Against all the odds, Dr Vijay saves Rina.

The moment when Rina addresses Vijay as her dad, Vijay feels as though there was some medicine put instantly over all the wounds he carried in his heart for so long.

“Heart that withstood pain and suffering heals for nothing but the purest word of love.”

Rina asks him to take her with him, and she does not want anyone else. Vijay says, “We will go away, and I will take care of you,” and he seals all his love with a kiss on his loving daughter’s hand.
Rina feels a sigh of relief as the moment gifted Rina the warmth, love, concern, and protection of her father that she never experienced before in life.

“For friends and a life partner, a girl can be a priority, but only to a father, his little girl would mean the world.”

But the moment could not last long, as Vijay assures Rina of his return and goes away.

What does time hold for this father-daughter duo?

The viewers can only find out in season 3, releasing soon.

You can watch the series on Hotstar, and it is available in three languages: Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.

As a viewer, I wish the wounded hearts of the father and daughter could be given their time together so they could heal each other. So they eventually get to understand Arjun and Rathi’s point of view.

Even Vijay and Rina should have their happy moment, for I believe no one in the world is destined for sadness and pain alone. That way, the show would give viewers the hope that the hearts that are hurt the most have the right to blossom with utmost joy too.

Once you watch the series, do not forget to let me know which character you like the most and why.

I liked Vijay’s character the most, as the emotions he emoted either as a doctor, lover, or father were too honest and made it hard to believe that it was just acting.

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla
In collaboration with Cerebration – Think with body, mind & soul