When we first wrote about Four Years Later in January this year, we focused on the exploration of arranged marriages in Indian culture. But as the eight-part SBS series premieres this week, it’s clear that the romantic drama delves into more than just the match between two people.
Four Years Later indeed follows the turbulent marriage of two young Indian lovers, Sridevi (Shahana Goswami) and Yash (Akshay Ajit Singh), who were initially introduced by their parents but then eventually fell in love. However, the show also follows the multi-layered challenges they face during a long-distance relationship after marriage, and the experience of moving to Australia.
After Yash leaves Jaipur for Sydney to pursue his medical studies alone, he quickly learns that various racial, financial and social barriers make his life in Australia not the one he had envisioned. However, he maintains an illusion to his family – and wife – back home in India, before Sridevi decides to make the trip Down Under. It’s then that she learns the truth, white also discovering a new sense of independence in a new world.
It’s this nuanced depiction of the first-gen immigrant experience that lead actress Shahana Goswami believes is a major strength of the series. While we often interact with immigrants or hear about their stories, they’re rarely spotlighted in the arts in an authentic way.
“I think it's just a slice of a certain reality of a certain section of people in India that I don't think get represented as much,” Goswami tells Draw Your Box “And funnily enough, they are people that you will encounter on your trips and on your journeys in your neighbourhood, but you will never see them on screen.
"I just feel like it's a show that will give you a very, very real perspective on a section of Indians that we don't get to see on screen."
Akshay Ajit Singh and Shahana Goswami in 'Four Years Later'. Image Source: SBS
Beyond this, Goswami – who has starred in films such as Rock On and Tu Hai Mera Sunday – highlights that it’s important for global audiences to realise Indian acting doesn’t just thrive in Bollywood itself. Four Years Later is an example of Indian talent transcending borders and genres, and quashing this stereotype widely held by western audiences.
“There are a lot of beautiful nuances in the writing,” she explains. “I think people are used to associating India with Bollywood, which is one part of it, but there's so much more. I think this is something that's much more accessible and global in what it is, and it just happens to be set between India and Australia and and happens to be an Indian couple.”
Akshay Ajit Singh stars opposite Goswami as the male romantic lead, and admits that playing the young doctor was a dream come true at a time when he was eager to sink his teeth into some more challenging work. It all began when he contacted casting directors Dilip Shankar and Sanjeev Maurya.
“I told them, ‘Hey I'm looking for work’. And I remember auditioning for them 14 years back for a small film called Life Of Pi,” he smiles. “Suraj [Sharma] got that role, and he did an amazing job.”
When Singh heard back from Shankar about the role of Yash, he started reading the script and was “over the moon”.
“I danced for half an hour before I resumed reading,” he laughs. “Then it was just a matter of finding Yash within, and coming from a place of honesty while playing those emotions.”
Besides adjusting to a new life in Australia, Yash must deal with familial expectations and also navigate a long-distance relationship with his new wife. Singh drew on his own experiences to shape his performance.
“I had a similar experience where I left my girlfriend – now my wife – back in Delhi, and I moved to Mumbai to find work, to become an actor. We were both starting out, and it was total uncertainty whether I'll be able to get a job, be financially stable enough to marry her and to get her to Bombay,” he says.
“So I did draw a little bit of inspiration from my life as well, because I've faced similar experiences and emotions that Yash experiences.”
Exploring the plot through two timelines and worlds has always been front of mind for the show’s creator, Mithila Gupta, who’d been working on this show for more than 10 years before she took the concept to SBS in 2021.
Born in India before moving to Australia with her family when she was a child, Gupta has experienced a sentiment felt amongst many second-generation South Asians – of feeling caught between two cultures. She’s also grown up seeing arranged marriages take place around her, and drawn inspiration from others to create a storyline that examines separation, long-distance relationships and immigration.
Akshay Ajit Singh and Shahana Goswami with 'Four Years Later' creator Mithila Gupta. Image Source: SBS
As a teenager, Gupta didn’t connect with her Indian culture because she “just wanted to fit in.”
“I think this country sometimes makes you feel like you have to just fit in,” she reflects. “Then when I got to a certain age, went to uni, and was told to find my voice, I went back to India with my mum for six weeks. I spent pretty much six weeks just crying because I felt like, ‘I can't believe I've been denying all this amazing culture, truth, history and family’.
“So it’s kind of like, my whole career is overcompensating for that and trying to reconnect and share it with other people.”
It’s because of this that filming Four Years Later in both India and Australia was crucial for Gupta.
“It’s the first time in my life where I went, ‘I don't have to feel like I'm not Australian enough, and I'm not Indian enough,’” she explains.
“Shooting this show in India and speaking in Hindi, and then coming back and shooting the same show in Australia and speaking in English with Indian crew, Australian crew and people who are part of both – it's the first time in my whole life where internally I'm like, ‘Holy shit, I can be both, and I am both'.
“I don't have to be in India to feel Indian, and I don't have to be in Australia to feel Australian. I can hold both identities within me.”
With an all-South Asian writing team (Nicole Reddy and S. Shakthidharan are part of the writing team with Gupta, while Mohini Herse and Fadia Abboud are directors), and both English and Hindi dialogue throughout, Gupta says that the show will ultimately resonate with diverse audiences through the universal language of love.
“I want people to feel joy and pain just like they do when they fall in love. Yes, this is an Indian story and it’s an Australian story. But above both of those things, it's a love story.”
Four Years Later premieres Wednesday 2 October on SBS and SBS on Demand, with double episodes to air at 9.20pm on SBS each Wednesday.