Warning: This piece contains major spoilers for the final season of “Never Have I Ever.” If you haven’t watched yet, turn back now!
Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” Season 4 opens new chapters for all characters, including Vishwakumar matriarch Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty) when she marries her new love Len (Jeff Garlin).
Nirmala’s wedding ceremony provides the last scene where everyone — Devi’s family and friends — come together before the show ends. The scene meant a lot to Poorna Jagannathan, who plays Nalini, Nirmala’s daughter-in-law and Devi’s mother.
“I’m just remembering a lot of people wrapped that day so it was very intense, very emotional. Yeah. The wedding scene is very symbolic of the show. It’s something that happened to Mindy’s dad. Mindy’s dad got remarried later in life. It’s something that happened to my mom at 64 and it’s a storyline that is unexpected,” Jagannathan told TheWrap, with costar Richa Moorjani adding that it is rare for South Asian characters. “This permission to never close a chapter of your life, to always keep it open, to keep that narrative always open. For women in a multi-generational household, I think that’s a theme that keeps coming up — our stories are never over. There is opportunity to find love and healing.”
The wedding also calls back to the foundation of South Asian culture upon which the show was founded, including a traditional dance from Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her cousin Kamala (Moorjani) choreographed by Joya Kazi.
“That dance sequence was something that both Maitreya that I had been trying to manifest since season one because I always wanted to have a dance scene in the show, I thought it would be such a great addition to the show, because dance and music and, and arts is such such a big part of Indian culture,” Moorjani said. “And when we go to Indian weddings, we do have lots of performances, and it’s such a celebration of who we are. That whole scene felt like a celebration of not just the wedding but of the past four years and of us.”
Moorjani also reflected on her character’s influence on Devi and vice versa.
“We’ve seen a huge evolution in the relationship between Devi and Kamala since season one — they didn’t both hate each other, but Devi hated Kamala,” she said. “And now they really are like sisters. Devi has helped Kamala to channel her own rage and to stand up for herself, and Devi maybe has calmed down a little bit because of Kamala.”
Jagannathan admired Devi’s courage in every area of life.
“Devi has taught all of us how to be really brave, how to how to take risks, how to fall on your face, ow never to accept no right answer. Kamala Harris has this quote which is ‘I eat no for breakfast’ and that’s also for Devi,” she said. “She will not accept no. What I love is, we finally understand that Devi gets her horniness from the grandmother. We finally draw that line, you’re like ‘Oh it’s in the genes.’ That’s like a very funny storyline as well, but I love that this show explores female empowerment but also female sexuality.”
Moorjani added that the show also explores “female rage with these brown characters we never get to see.”
“My favorite part of playing Kamala is getting to play a character where I get to bring my full self to it. It’s the first time that I’ve been able to be on a set where I feel like I’m allowed to be brown,” she said. “I’m allowed to have a character with a brown name and eat with my hands and take my shoes off in the house, all those things. That’s what I’m going to miss the most, because we don’t know if we’ll ever have an opportunity like that. I hope we will.”
After Moorjani indicated she would miss her bond with Jagannathan, Jagannathan echoed the sentiment, saying their partnership made it feel like they were in high school along with the other characters.
“I will miss Nalini’s sense of humor. I think it’s so weird and so particular, and I will miss being on a set where, for the first time my career, I really, truly belonged and was wanted and never felt like a guest, and my voice my voice mattered,” she said. “I know it should matter on every set, but we were very privileged that that happened on this set. And also like the sense of family that the show had gives to its viewers also gives it to us. We feel like a family. We’ve grown as a family, we fight as a family. It’s beautiful.”
All episodes of “Never Have I Ever” Season 4 are now streaming.
