Saurabh Khanna, the creator of the show, said that he aims to change the popular narrative surrounding Kota and preparation for IIT-JEE & NEET in Indian pop culture to a more positive one via the show.[2] The series premiered simultaneously on TVFPlay and YouTube from 16 April to 14 May 2019. The series received a generally positive response from critics, praising its black & white setting, realism, and the major technical aspects of the series.[3]
On 30 August 2021, Netflix announced that the series would be renewed for a second season, which was released on 24 September 2021.[4] On 26 September 2021, Raghav Subbu confirmed that the third season was in the works.[5]
Vaibhav comes to Kota in the middle of the academic year and is allotted the worst batch of Prodigy classes, A10, after being denied admission at Maheshwari classes. He meets Meena at his new homestay, also in Prodigy, who tells him that he should not accept admission into A10. He speaks to Deepak, the Head Manager of Prodigy, but is denied his request to change his batch. Then, he meets Jeetu Bhaiya, the Physics lecturer, who gives Vaibhav a 50-question paper and tells him to complete it by the next day. With the help of Meena and Uday, he solves 42 questions by copying the solutions from different books but is unable to do the remaining 8. The next day, Jeetu Bhaiya points out his cheating, and Vaibhav accepts that he cheated, however, Jeetu Bhaiya allots Vaibhav the A5 batch because of his hard work.
Vaibhav struggles to sleep, eat food at mess, drink water (which he finds salty) and study for long hours at Kota. Uday and Meena try to help their new friend but all in vain. One day, Jeetu Bhaiya acknowledges about his problems and helps him with the solutions. Eventually, within 21 days, Vaibhav has all the struggles sorted with all the help he has.
Vaibhav is not able to cope up with Inorganic Chemistry and blames the teachers who teach the subject. But even after changing 3 teachers for the subject, he bursts out all his anger and frustration in front of Meena, who then takes him to Jeetu Bhaiya. He advises Vaibhav to drop the subject.
Jeetu Bhaiya advises his students to take a break from JEE studies and attend practicals at school. Uday suggests exploring Kota with his girlfriend, Shivangi, and invites Vaibhav and another girl, Vartika, to join them. While Uday discusses the plan with Vaibhav, Meena engages in conversation with Meenal, a studious girl from their class. Initially, Meena plans to study with Vaibhav but changes her mind based on Meenal's advice. As Vaibhav declines the invitation, Meena goes in his place. Vartika, who also wants to study, seeks help from Vaibhav and they study together while Uday, Shivangi, Meena, and Meenal roam around Kota.
During this time, Vaibhav and Vartika develop unspoken feelings for each other. In order to be closer to Vartika, Vaibhav takes an exam alongside her to gain admission to Maheshwari, although he personally doesn't want to go there. After the exams, Vaibhav and Vartika start studying for their 12th-grade exams together. Meena realizes that wandering around Kota was pointless as he starts developing feelings for Meenal, but she reveals her plans to move to the US. He regrets not focusing on studying instead.
Vaibhav is shocked to learn that he has been selected for Maheshwari classes. Deepak and Batla Sir talk to the group of students who have been selected for Maheshwari, including Vaibhav. The students are allotted in A1 to discourage them from changing their coaching center. Vaibhav has already settled in Prodigy and has no intention of leaving. Jeetu Bhaiya is also brought in to address the group, and all the students express their decision not to go to Maheshwari. However, Jeetu Bhaiya insists that Vaibhav should join Maheshwari due to the larger number of students and better focus there. Initially reluctant, Vaibhav consults with his parents based on Uday's advice and decides to join Maheshwari. He bids farewell to Shivangi, Meena, Uday, and Vartika. Uday drops him off at Maheshwari, where he is allotted A3. There, he meets a nervous student named Sushrut, who is in A7.
Season 2 (2021)
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Viewers (millions)
6
1
"Reasoning"
Raghav Subbu
Abhishesk Yadav, Saurabh Khanna
24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
N/A
Vaibhav prepares for his first day at Maheshwari classes, accompanied by his new friend Sushrut. During their journey, they notice a billboard featuring Jeetu Bhaiya. At the orientation, Mr. Maheshwari gives a demoralizing introduction, followed by an oath. The Physics class is unengaging, with the teacher simply writing on the whiteboard while students mindlessly copy it down. Meanwhile, at Prodigy classes, Vaibhav's former friends learn that Jeetu Bhaiya has left the institute. Concerned about Sushrut's well-being, Vaibhav discovers that his friend is depressed and questioning the importance of appearing for the JEE exam. They seek help from other seniors and realize that many others share similar concerns. When they meet Jeetu, who is focused on building his own institute, Vaibhav's friends address Sushrut's concerns to him.
7
2
"Control System"
Raghav Subbu
Puneet Batra, Saurabh Khanna
24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
N/A
In Jeetu's class, Meena is absent, and Vaibhav finds his Chemistry class at Maheshwari engaging. Jeetu discusses concerns about the teaching abilities of the Physics faculty at Maheshwari, despite their qualifications. Vaibhav tries to attend Jeetu's classes during the day but is stopped by the guard. He convinces his Physics teacher to excuse him from attending the class. Jeetu secures funding for his institute from an old friend who is an investor. Shivangi addresses Meena's issues with females, introduces him to masturbation, and encourages Vaibhav to confront Mr. Maheshwari about his Physics class. Instead, he attempts bribing the security guard, Vaibhav ends up meeting with Mr. Maheshwari. Meena develops an addiction to masturbation and feels guilt and shame, and Jeetu Bhaiya helps him address it. Finally, Mr. Maheshwari allows Vaibhav to attend Jeetu's classes.
8
3
"Atmospheric Pressure"
Raghav Subbu
Manoj Kalwani, Saurabh Khanna
24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
N/A
At Maheshwari, many other students are now raising concerns about teaching abilities of the Physics Faculty. Jeetu hires a female teacher for teaching Chemistry.
9
4
"Repair & Maintenance"
Raghav Subbu
Puneet Batra, Saurabh Khanna
24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
N/A
When a bout of jaundice slows Vaibhav down in his studying, Jeetu insists he calls his only hope to get well quickly: his mother.
10
5
"Packaging"
Raghav Subbu
Saurabh Khanna
24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
N/A
JEE results send Kota into celebration mode and give Vaibhav, Meena and Uday glimpses into their own futures, but the occasion comes with sad truths.
Production
Development
The screenwriter Saurabh Khanna who worked on The Viral Fever's Yeh Meri Family, started the scriptwriting process of his another project for TVF, after the release of Yeh Meri Family in July 2018.[11] It was reported that the series is based on a teenager who joins a coaching institute that prepares students for the Indian Institute of Technology entrance examination(JEE Advanced), and deals with intense academic pressure and a colourful hostel experience. While Khanna compared the script of the series to Biswa Kalyan Rath's Laakhon Mein Ek, a similar web show released in late 2017, and a documentary An Engineered Dream, by Hemant Gaba, Khanna stated that the script is distinctively different from both the works as this show is set in India's coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan.[2]
"The popular narrative surrounding Kota and IIT preparation in Indian pop culture is that parents torment their children by pushing them through the process and it’s a one-sided representation. It’s not like everyone is in Kota with a passion other than clearing the exam. There are also studious kids, but people who study aren’t celebrated in the country. We make films on mavericks, but never something like A Beautiful Mind. We have developed this tendency to portray people who study and get nine-to-five jobs as these drones whose passions have been sucked away. It’s like there’s not a story in their life unless they quit their jobs and climb the Himalayas."
— Saurabh Khanna in an interview with the Scroll.in about the scripting of Kota Factory.[12]
Casting
Khanna drew the inspiration of the series as he and the creative team of TVF (Arunabh Kumar, Amit Golani, and Biswapati Sarkar) were IIT graduates. The series star Jitendra Kumar in a principal character as Jeetu Bhaiya, as like all the TVF series and sketches featuring Kumar. He was also an ex-IIT graduate studied in Kota, and his experience made them easier for him to work in the series.[13] Khanna stated about his role, adding that, "Teaching is a very humble, underrated profession, where those who practice it are not that high up on the social ladder. That's not how it is in Kota. Teachers are heavily paid and they are, consequently, under pressure to extract the best from students. Jeetu is one such teacher, a well-to-do guy with a taste for fine things in life. He is a motivator, a friend, a guide, students' 'agony aunt' and does not do lip service to make a student feel good. When Vaibhav requests to be allowed to move up to the elite students’ batch, Jeetu snaps at him to not beg."[14] One of the characters Uday, is played Alam Khan who also appeared in Laakhon Mein Ek, having the similar storyline and role as of Kota Factory, but Khanna conveyed it as unintentional.[15]
Filming
Kota Factory was shot in colour and graded into monochrome later during post production (black-and-white). The shooting was kickstarted in January 2019 and ended within 30 days.[16] After the announcement of the series' second season being renewed, the makers started their works of writing in July 2019.[17] The team initially planned to shoot the series in March 2020, but the shooting was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. The makers later started the shooting process in September 2020, and was filmed across two to three months in and around Madhya Pradesh. The crew shot the series under the supervision of a special team designated as in order to observe the crew members abiding the COVID-19 protocol. In January 2021, the makers announced that the shooting of the series had been wrapped.[citation needed]
Soundtrack
Season 1
The first season's soundtrack is composed by Karthik Rao and Simran Hora, and was produced by Ankur Tewari. It features twelve original compositions with two songs "The Gentleman" sung and written by Simran Hora and "Main Bola Hey!" sung by Abhishek Yadav, Manish Chandwani and Karthik Rao. The soundtrack album was released on 23 May 2019, through media streaming platforms and in YouTube through the official channel of TVF, where the songs are independently released without launching a separate jukebox format.[18][19] In addition to the original soundtrack, Kota Factory also features two songs composed by Ankur Tewari, Karsh Kale and his rock band The Ghalat Family, whereas the songs were written by Ankur Tewari.[20][21] The songs were released as a part of the additional soundtrack released on 3 June 2019.[22][23]
Kota Factory: Season 1 (Music from Tvf Original Series)
The second season's soundtrack is also composed by Karthik Rao and Simran Hora. It features nine original compositions with two songs "Tere Jaisa" sung by Vaibhav Bundhoo and Kamakshi Khanna and "Umbilical" sung by Jazim Sharma and written by Alok Ranjan Srivastava. The soundtrack album was released on 24 September 2021.
Kota Factory: Season 2 (Music from the Netflix Series)
Kota Factory: Season 2 (Music from the Netflix Series)
No.
Title
Lyrics
Music
Singer(s)
Length
1.
"All India Rank 1"
Karthik Rao, Arpit Mehta, Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:12
2.
"21 Days Later"
Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:42
3.
"Pasara Pasara"
Simran Hora
Instrumental
00:43
4.
"Noire"
Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:38
5.
"Tere Jaisa"
Vaibhav Bundhoo
Vaibhav Bundhoo
Vaibhav Bundhoo, Kamakshi Khanna
05:11
6.
"The Gentleman (Orchestral)"
Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:48
7.
"Umbilical"
Alok Ranjan Srivastava
Simran Hora
Jazim Sharma
02:43
8.
"All India Rank 2"
Karthik Rao, Arpit Mehta, Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:12
9.
"The Gentleman (Rock)"
Simran Hora
Instrumental
02:22
Total length:
23:31
Themes
Kota Factory drew inspiration from the life of aspiring engineering students, who join the coaching institute in Kota, to crack the IIT entrance exam. This plot has been found similar to the 2009 film 3 Idiots, the web series Laakhon Mein Ek and the docu-drama An Engineer's Dream.[3] But, Tanul Thakur of the British magazine The Wire, deploys the realistic portrayals of the series as compared to the feature films based on the same theme. Thakur stated that the first half of the series is interesting due to the "intellectual curiosity about the city, and its people". He added that apart from the realistic portrayals, it also added the acceptance to abnormalities in the coaching life, as instead of critiquing the coaching institute. The series also has the theme of how the life of a student in Kota goes it tells the hardships of a student.[24]
Release
Kota Factory sponsored with Unacademy in order to promote the series, based on its storyline.[2] In December 2018, TVF released the official teaser through its YouTube channel which received wide response from audiences.[25] Later, the official trailer of the first season was unveiled on 28 March 2019.[26] The series consisting of five episodes was released simultaneously through TVF Play and YouTube from 16 April 2019, with each episode being aired per week. The series finale premiered on 14 May 2019.
After the second season being renewed Netflix acquired the distribution rights of the series;[27] an official announcement regarding Season 2 was made on 3 March 2021, where Netflix released several other original contents in their 2021 slate.[28] This marked TVF's second collaboration with the platform after Yeh Meri Family.[29] On 30 August 2021, Netflix announced that the second season of the series will premiere on 24 September 2021.
Reception
Devasheesh Pandey of News18 praised the cinematography, art direction, sound design as well as the acting performances of the show and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 saying that, "Kota Factory maintains an edge over other shows in the genre, courtesy of its on-point, deadpan humour and a relatably bittersweet aftertaste of existential battle that the protagonist is facing."[30] Ishita Sengupta of The Indian Express found the show to be engaging and applauded it saying that, "The ingenuity of Kota Factory lies in its ability to deal with different narrative strands and coalesce them effortlessly." Ishita also felt that the performances of the actors, specially Mayur More and Ranjan Raj, add a lot of value to the show.[31] Rahul Desai of Film Companion was impressed with the mature depiction of the subject at hand and praised the acting performances as well as the writing of the show saying that, "Kota Factory’s biggest asset is its writing which somehow maintains a semi-dramatic progression without compromising on the factual tone of the series."[32]
Gautam Batra of Koimoi praised the direction and the acting performances of the show and gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "the web series has taken a very less dramatic route to narrate the story which makes it extremely relatable watch."[33] Priyanka Bansal of The Quint praised the show for presenting a fresh perspective on the education system in India. Impressed with the acting performances, production quality and music of Kota Factory, Priyanka gave the show a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, "If you are looking for something worthwhile, The Kota Factory can be a nice watch that will make you think not about death and gloom but leave you with optimism."[34] Tanul Thakur of The Wire praised the show for being realistic and relatable but felt that the show shies away from criticising the culture of coaching institutes prevalent in the Indian society.[24] Dilip D'Souza writing for The Caravan praised the storytelling, as well.[35]
