Star Cast: Ibrahim Ali Khan, Khushi Kapoor
Director: Shauna Gautam
Nadaaniyan Movie Review Synopsis:
NADAANIYAN is the story of two teenagers in an unusual arrangement. Pia Jaisingh (Khushi Kapoor) is a student at Falcon High School, Delhi. She is the only daughter of Neelu Jaisingh (Mahima Chaudhry) and Rajat Jaisingh (Suniel Shetty). Her best friends since childhood are Rhea (Apoorva Mukhija) and Sahira (Aaliyah Qureishi). Both are not talking to Pia as they assume that she is interested in their classmate Ayaan (Dev Agasteya), who is Sahira’s crush. To save her friendship and stop Ayaan from spreading rumours, Pia lies that she already has a boyfriend and assures them that she’ll introduce him soon. In reality, Pia doesn’t have a partner and she starts looking for one. She bumps into Arjun Mehta (Ibrahim Ali Khan), who has just joined Falcon High through a scholarship. He ticks all the boxes – he’s funny, charming, smart and very good-looking. Pia asks him to pretend to be his boyfriend. Arjun is apprehensive and Pia offers to pay him Rs. 25,000 a week to be her fake boyfriend. Arjun comes from a middle-class background; his father Sanjay (Jugal Hansraj) is a doctor while his mother Nandini (Dia Mirza) is a teacher at Falcon High. Hence, Arjun agrees. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Nadaaniyan Movie Story Review:
Riva Razdan Kapoor’s story is modern. Ishita Moitra, Riva Razdan Kapoor and Jehan Handa’s screenplay has its share of blemishes and should have been more convincing. Ishita Moitra and Jehan Handa’s dialogues are conversational and a few one-liners stand out.
Shauna Gautam’s direction is decent. She gives a youthful flavour to the film and it’ll appeal to the elite target audience of Netflix. The scenes of Pia and Arjun are cute and it will keep viewers engaged. She has also handled the picturization of the songs well especially ‘Tera Kya Karoon?’. She also keeps the duration in check (119 minutes). Moreover, there are references to films like KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, DIL TO PAGAL HAI, KAL HO NAA HO, etc. which will be liked.
On the flipside, the writing is weak and Shauna’s direction does little to salvage it. The entire bit of Pia lying about having a boyfriend is unconvincing. Hence, the base of the story itself is shaky. On one hand, the makers show the college students, including Orry, dying to know who Pia’s boyfriend is. On the other hand, we see Pia roaming around the campus and clicking pictures with Arjun with no other person around! Knowing that she’s popular with 3 lakh followers and when she has heightened the mystery about her partner, would her fellow students and her friends not stalk her to find out the identity of the mystery man? The other major issue arises in the second half when hell breaks out in the Jaisingh family. Arjun, unaware of it, wonders why she didn’t join him in Mumbai for the championship. Agreed that Pia is going through a major crisis but she doesn’t even remember such a big event is very difficult to digest. On top of it, she goes to Rajasthan to meet a family friend and is reminded about Arjun only 24 hours later! The makers should have thought of better ways to show the rift between the lovers. Lastly, the setting in NADAANIYAN doesn’t look like that of India at all and is more on the lines of American campus drama shows and films like NEVER HAVE I EVER, TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE, etc.
Nadaaniyan | Official Trailer | Ibrahim Ali Khan, Khushi Kapoor | Netflix India
Nadaaniyan Movie Review Performances:
Ibrahim Ali Khan is a bit raw but has the spark and manages to put up a watchable act. His good looks and resemblance with Saif Ali Khan add to his performance. Khushi Kapoor has an arresting screen presence and delivers a decent performance. But she still has a long way to go. Mahima Chaudhry is just okay. Suniel Shetty is impressive but his track ends rather abruptly. Jugal Hansraj and Dia Mirza are adorable. Archana Puran Singh (Mrs Braganza) is hilarious though a few of her dialogues are absurd. Apoorva Mukhija, Aaliyah Qureishi, Dev Agasteya, Agasthya Shah (Aakash Goenka) and Nikhat Hegde (Rani Priyanjali) are okay. Barun Chanda (Dhanraj Jaisingh) has no role. Meezan Jafri (Rudra) is hardly there after a heroic entry. Orry is as usual. Riya Sen (Anahita) is horribly wasted. It’s shocking why she even accepted such a blink-and-miss part.
Nadaaniyan movie music and other technical aspects:
Sachin-Jigar’s music is of chartbuster variety. The title song is okay but ‘Ishq Mein’ stands out. ‘Tirkit Dhoom’ is the best of the lot although it begins all of a sudden. ‘Tera Kya Karoon?’ is well picturized while ‘Galatfehmi’ is passable. Tushar Lall’s background score is in sync with the film’s theme.
Anuj Samtani’s cinematography could have been better. Anaita Shroff Adajania’s costumes are very appealing. The same goes for Rahul Vijay’s costumes for Suniel Shetty. Sabrina Singh and Amrita Mahal Nakai’s production design is unreal. Vaishnavi Bhate and Sidhant Seth’s editing is functional.
Nadaaniyan Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, NADAANIYAN has its share of cute moments but suffers due to poor writing. Nevertheless, the curiosity to see Ibrahim Ali Khan in his debut film is huge and this would result in a healthy viewership.