A powerful 6 episode series with a strong and wonderful message, “Selection Day” pursues the cause of depicting the message of letting the children be, letting go of the pressure and the control we hover upon them as parents. As children, we often find ourselves clueless on the path of our careers, the direction is often blurry and sometimes lost completely.
But there are other times, where we have our path all sorted out, directions all jotted down on the map, and destination tattooed in our heart and brain, but something stops us; and that something is our parents. Parents always want the best out of us and know what’s good or bad for us, but are they right every time? Does being a parent mean not giving any power to your children to make their own life decisions? Isn’t letting children mess up sometimes a part of growth too?
Selection Day is an Indian Netflix Original web television series based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Aravind Adiga. Produced by Anil Kapoor and Anand Tucker, it frames many actors in the plot like Yash Dhaloye, Mohammad Samad, Karanvir Malhotra, Rajesh Tailang, Ratna Pathak, Shiv Pandit, Mahesh Manjrekar and many more. Selection Day was premiered on Netflix on 28 December 2018 and currently awaits the release of its season 2 after a successful running of season 1.
The plot revolves around two village boys; Yash and Mohammad playing Radha and Manju, who are brothers and have a cricket-obsessed short-tempered father as enacted by Rajesh Tailang. With the dream of playing for the Indian Cricket team someday and becoming the best batsman of the world, they end up in Mumbai in the whirlwind of chasing their dream.
Luckily after a few days of hardship, the two boys get noticed by a great Indian cricket coach, popularly known as Tommy sir (Mahesh Manjrekar) who helps them get into a school through scholarship and helps them in following their dream. But as the two boys tag along with their father in the pursuit of their one common dream, it turns out that Manju has a whole different path planned to take up, to follow his love for science and become a scientist.
The new school, city life, and new people bring out new revelations in Radha and Manju, where on one hand Radha shows a glimpse of his mean streak to his rival Javed (Karanvir Malhotra), Manju, on the other hand, jellies up well, portraits his love for science and takes a step back on his cricket training. The show holds up a comedic tone about the unwavering faith that Manju has on his Lord Rama portrayed by Shiv Pandit, whom Manju can see and talk to at various decisive moments of his life, bringing into spotlight how we often give deities the major roles as controllers of our destiny and think of ourselves as only the puppets. But what Manju lives to seek is afar from turning into a reality, because the fences that bind him in think of him only as a pawn, the bitterness of which his father slams to his face
“Sochne ke liye nahi paida kiya tha maine tumhe”
The plot through the lives of Radha, Manju, and their father bring out the rigid mindset of some parents who force their children into fulfilling their un-achieved dreams or into the path they feel worthwhile irrespective of the desires of their children. The show also highlights the family violence and dominance that women of rural background face, and how they are not a stakeholder in the decision making about the upbringing of their own children. 
The show wants to emphasize the message that it is very important that we give young adults the power, the right to choose their own path, create their own destiny, taste some failures and succeed on their own terms. This generation wants to live on its own terms, wants to be free and not barred or pinned down as if they do not possess a mind of their own. Parents need to be a little more liberal, a little less controlling and a lot more trusting. Let the young adults move forward onto the path of their hidden treasure, let them chase what they love and let them chase it in full speed.