Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment is back with yet another reality television show that promises viewers to glimpse into the glamorous and dramatic lives of social media influencers. Fashion, glam and drama are a major component in all the episodes in this Amazon Prime series called The Tribe. The nine-episode unscripted produced by Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Aneesha Baig delves into the journeys of five young and affluent content creators–Alanna Panday, Alaviaa Jaaferi, Srushti Porey, Aryaana Gandhi, and Alfia Jafry, along with digital evangelist and investor, Hardik Zaveri.
The Tribe: Plot
The show features four friends who are flown out to Los Angeles to live together and create content for social media. However, things are thrown off balance with the arrival of a new member. But don't get us wrong, this is not another rags-to-riches story. It is quite far from it.
The 5 young girls have connections to the powerful and famous ones in the industry. All of them are influencers and have a good amount of followers ranging from 100k to 200k, as the main lead, Alanna Panday mentions it herself in one episode. Well, except for one - Alfia.
DRUM ROLLL...Name Reveal! The name of their collab brand is "Collab Tribe."
Know The Tribe
Alanna Panday: Alanna Panday is a model, content creator on Instagram and YouTube, and a new mother. She is the cousin of Bollywood actress Ananya Panday and the daughter of Deanne and Chikki Panday. Alanna is married to photographer Ivor McCray.
Srushti Porey: She is the daughter of the National Award-winning filmmaker Samruddhi Porey. She is a fashion influencer and is a treat to watch in the series.
Alaviaa Jaaferi: Daughter of Jaaved Jaaferi, she is a fashion and beauty influencer.
Aryaana Gandhi: Popularly known as Yaani, she is a singer and songwriter. She and her boyfriend Kyle make their acting debut with the series.
Alfia Jafry: Director Rumi Jafry's daughter Alfia Jafry dreams of making it big in LA. She had deleted her public account after her marriage fallout some years back.
What we liked
The Tribe showcases influencing as a real and legitimate job. There is also a gap of understanding that exists with our parent's generation and the show highlights that. It shows a fun confrontation between Jaaved Jaaferi and his daughter Alaviaa where he disregards her profession, "This is NOT a real job."
The idea of bringing in five Indian influencers to make it big in Hollywood city ironic, which makes it even more fun and the girls are owning it as a challenge. It's fun to see 5 young girls out there trying to challenge the McDonaldization of the world even in the tiniest sense. Well yes, they somewhat are the flag-bearers of this McDonald's dominance as well, but that is a different concern.
Girl friendships between the four former friends have been shown with utmost honesty and moments that are awe-worthy. Another fresh concept to look out for is how Alanna's partner Ivor and Aryaana's partner Kyle do not try to take over the girls' thunder nor are they indifferent. They are just a supportive force and the buttons of constructive criticism.
What we didn't like
While girl friendships were a treat to watch in the first 2 episodes. But then, whoosh, they bring Alfia into the equation. Through her, they intend to provide drama and paranoia in the friendship city. But frankly, all attempts fall flat. Be it their fight for who gets the bigger and better room in the apartment to portraying how Alfia is different from them in the way she dresses, speaks and acts.
Something else to get your guard up for is the comments screaming privilege. Most of these are the courtesy of Srushti Porey. From saying, "She was pretty. And I just like pretty people," to "I am emotional. Wanna go shop." These comments underestimate the depth of their lives and experiences.
The Tribe is now streaming on Prime Video.
Views expressed by the author are their own.
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