Single Papa: Is A Fascinating Family Drama

Published by E Geet on December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

Single Papa (Season 1, India, 2025) is a six-part modern Hindi drama series. As the title and storyline of this Indian series make it quite clear, the Indian society is rapidly changing in the 21st century.

And, the new-age series like ‘Single Papa’ is offering a fresh perspective on how the traditional Indian society is evolving, perhaps to keep pace with the world society, norms, customs, culture, etc.

Spoiler-Free Review: Single Papa (Season 1, India, 2025) Hindi Series

FOCUS: When Single Papa Decides To Adopt A Baby In India, Did All Hell Break Loose?

Synopsis

When a newly-divorced “man-child” Gaurav Gehlot (Kunal Kemmu/Kunal Khemu) finds a baby in the back of his car, shocks his family by adopting a baby. As chaos unfolds, the immature Gaurav must defy his eccentric family, the adoption agency and societal norms to become a single papa. In addition, he must navigate single parenthood while his bewildered relatives adjust to the situation.

Dynamic Families

Single Papa, this 21st-century modern Indian Family tale is set in Gurgaon (or Gurugram), the upscale zonal area of the NCR Delhi city. And as the series (title and synopsis) offers a peek into the life of the protagonist, Gaurav Gehlot (Kunal Kemmu), who adopts a baby. Notably, Gaurav is a young businessman who has become single because of his recent divorce. And that adds to further complications.

This upper-middle-class Indian family might be living in the modern-day age and in a posh locality, but their value systems are still steeped in traditional, time-honoured customs and practices.

• How can a single man adopt a child in India?
• Can his old-fashioned family members (parents) accept his bold decision to adopt a child?

Well, this is where this modern-day Hindi comedy set in a North Indian city shines. As its writers pit the deeply entrenched time-honoured conventions against the new and modern ideas. One of the positive aspects of this series is that it smartly uses ‘comedy’ and ‘satire’ to challenge the firmly ingrained patriarchal societal norms in India.

Poster

Changing Society

Everyone is asking, as to why Gaurav (GG/Guggu) is going ahead with the child adoption?

But that is not all.

Besides his family members, GG has to deal with the antagonist, Mrs Nehra (Neha Dhupia), too. Significantly, Mrs Nehra strongly believes that a man can never take proper care of a baby. Moreover, she holds the veto power to decide the fate of the baby, as to who can legally adopt a baby. In other words, the majoritarian viewpoint in Indian society will agree with the above-mentioned thoughts of Mrs Nehra.

• And, what about the legal adoption system in India?
• Then there are friends, relatives, and society at large, who are always ready with tough questions.

All of these problematic scenarios have been beautifully dealt with in a witty manner. You might notice that some of the most serious, thought-provoking ideas have been served like a humorous (sweet) chat. The acceptance of these bold and path-breaking ideas (Single Papa, Male Nanny, etc) shows that Indian society is evolving. Even as the year 2025 comes to an end in a few days, one could easily see the inherent dynamism in its ancient Indian society, steeped deeply in its ancient history.

Ticks the Right Boxes

✅ It narrates an engrossing story of a quintessential Indian family. Moreover, it sugar-coats the pill (adoption themed) to deliver a modern-day message to Indian families as well as the Indian society.

✅ Both of the show creators and writers, Ishita Moitra and Neeraj Udhwani, have done a fairly good job with the scripting as well as the directing. In the past, their works have won awards/nominations, too.

✅ Once again, multi-talented Kunal Kemmu, the lead actor, has really given a splendid performance. He looked natural while playing a Haryanvi and really carried the show on his broad shoulders.

✅ In comedy scenes, Kunal was very well supported by the two veterans. Manoj Pahwa (Jatin Gehlot), and Ayesha Raza Mishra (Poonam Gehlot) played his parents in the show and entertained us.

✅ We especially liked the surprise appearance of our famous character “Daya/Dayanand Shetty (Parbat Singh/Manny)” in the show (check the video link shared below). His scenes are hilarious.

[YouTube Video clip link: Kunal Kemmu HATES His Son’s MANNY?! | Single Papa | Netflix India.]

✅ Among the rest of the ensemble cast, we also liked the acts of Neha Dhupia (Mrs Nehra), Prajakta Koli (Namrata Gehlot), Isha Talwar (Aparna), Gita Guha (Reshma), etc.

Rating

Conclusion

Lest we forget, one of the top scenes of the series was when GG explains the 5 types of customers that usually visit a liquor store in Gurgaon.

1. The Regular,
2. The Drunkard (Sharabi),
3. The Confused Character (Prani),
4. The Corporate Idiot (Chomu), &
5. The Mercedes Man.

To conclude, it is a fascinating family drama set in modern and contemporary India. It dwells on that lesser-talked-about part of Indian society, which still identifies with the humanistic and unprejudiced set of values. Where the divorce does not lead to enmities between the former partners. Furthermore, here, inter-caste marriage is acceptable. Also, here, Single Papa can think about adopting a baby without any fear or repercussions. Is it New-India, really? Well, you decide, is it a fact or a fiction? Anyways enjoy!

Key Details

Trailer

Lastly, read the Spoiler-Free Review of JAMNAPAAR (Season 2, Hindi, 2025) Series in our Focus Magazine.

Poster & Featured Image of Single Papa (Season 1, India, 2025) Series | Pictures Credit: Netflix India.