Nadaaniyan passes a lenient muster!

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As the French would put it, “Comme ci, comme ca!” Nowhere as avoidable as Gehraiyaan but not at all in the league of a Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Nadaaniyan is a coming-of-age romantic story from Karan Johar that details the foibles of youngsters growing up, complete with romantic crushes, misses and messes!

Arjun (Ibrahim Ali Khan) is the darling son of a doctor (Jugal Hansraj) and his wife (Dia Mirza). Pia, on the other hand, is born to a dysfunctional couple, Rajat (Suniel Shetty), a prosperous lawyer, and his long-suffering wife, Neelu (Mahima Chaudhary. This uber-rich family is headed by a rather obnoxious male chauvinist (Barun Chanda), Rajat’s father.

For a particular reason, Pia wants to show that she has a boyfriend, and she “hires” Arjun for a handsome sum of Rs. 25,000 a week to pose as one. Of course, love’s bound to blossom, but the road ahead is fraught with obstacles, mistakes and more. Hence the (for once, straight and simply-apt) title, because that’s what youth is all about.

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The film maintains a youthful tenor but gets into many cliches and foreseeable avenues and templates and the net result is an oh-so-average story of young love. Now that we have outgrown the age-old teenagers/youngsters-versus-disapproving-parents formula, we have moved on to the far-more-contemporary scenario of parents being advisors, good or sometimes bad, to youngsters who generate their own blunders and have their own reasons for almost falling out of love.

Director Shauna Gautam makes the saga crisp in most places and yet some sequences are stretched for formulaic reasons. The problem here is the superficiality vis-à-vis the similar-themed but vastly superior Loveyapa last month.

The common point, Khushi Kapoor, is good here as well, though she was far better, thanks to a better script, in the earlier film. Ibrahim Ali Khan can do with shedding his raw edges and must work on his expressions as well as voice modulations. Dia Mirza and Jugal Hansraj are excellent as Ibrahim’s parents, Suniel Shetty serviceable and Mahima Chaudhari good only in the latter parts. Archana Puran Singh is a more sober version of the Mrs. Braganza that she was in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and her reprise is merely alright.

The younger cast is adequate, but Meezaan Jafferi makes a mark as Kunwar Rudra Pratap Singh in a cameo. The film’s technical values are good but the music does not leave a mark. The script becomes a predictable mix of the old, the not-so-old and the ‘today’ school of Hindi cinema and the final outcome is an oh-so-average film, that is just okay for a home watch.

Rating: **1/2

Netflix presents Dharmatic Entertainment’s Nadaaniyan  Producers: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta & Somen Mishra  Directed by: Shauna Gautam Written by: Riva Razdan Kapoor, Jehan Handa & Ishita Moitra Music: Sachin-Jigar  Starring: Khushi Kapoor, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Suniel Shetty, Mahima Chaudhary, Dia Mirza, Jugal Hansraj, Barun Chanda, Archana Puran Singh, Aaliyah Qureishi, Apoorva Makhija, Agasthya Shah, Dev Agasteya, Neel Deewan, Nikhat Hegde, Sp. App: Meezaan Jafri, Riya Sen & Orhan Awatramani & others

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