Don’t Be Shy
Introduction
There is something annoying about Shyamili ‘Shy’ (Aarushi Bajaj) in the new Hindi film Don’t Be Shy. She is the female equivalent of a man-child, except that the only leeway that one could give her is that she is 20 years old, and still growing up (unlike some guys who just never grow up). You witness her dual lifestyle at the start, invariably subverting her life as a checklist. She is self-obsessed but too poor to be an influencer, she is ashamed of her Bengali middle name, and her father’s shop often labelling it as a ‘designer store’ to hide the social grime. At rhe same time, she aspires to be rich courtsey her rich boyfriend Mayank (Piyush Khati), while dissing her teenage crush Dhruv (Ansh Duggal), and attending a college that itself would be seen as a swanky cousin to the one in Student Of The Year (2012). Clearly, her life is about two extremes and this seemingly harmless tale is about a coming of age arc of the protagonist. But the key ingredient that the writers choose to add is a messy cocktail of cuteness amidst a high dose of a cookie cutting icecream commercial that made me reminiscent of the atrocities imposed on my brain by a so-called film titled Naadaniyan (2025).
Story & Screenplay
Written by Sreeti Mukerji, Sunayana Kumari, and Sehaj Kaur Mani, Don’t Be Shy resembles one of those popular dishes that you wish to try at a five star restaurant, knowing fully well that the street-side variant of the same would be more palatable. The reason for the same remains its excessive garnish of candy and glitter, that instantly had me disconnected from the soul of the drama. The issue remains that the writing wishes to identify itself in binaries – featuring a cutsie checklist for the protagonist who would have essentially been a side-chick in any other film. The reason being that the character itself isn’t interesting, almost modelled on the idea of being a non-chalant teenager, only to come across as annoying.
The writing itself is modelled around the imperfections of a classy wardrobe, even as the coming of age arc of the protagonist seems familiar. There is an instant familiarity in the characterization of the protagonist, immensely contributed by the sketchy characters around her – the main guy who becomes the side guy, the side guy who becomes the main guy, the poor parents who are baby sitted at home, the prettier chick who becomes her competition, a cool teacher who is just there (because why not). All of this makes the protagonist a variant of Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1999) who just wishes to sing and dance through the troubles of folks around her, or like Poo from K3G (2001) – flaunting her narcisstic trend, much like the influencial folks of this country (non-political comment 🫠).
Like Naadaniyan, the writing here is built around the derivatives of Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) – invariably having no identity of its own. And unfortunately, the proceedings form an unwanted pattern here – a rich guy wanting to pursue his dreams; only to end up squishing the protagonist’s dreams of being rich, a random-a*s DDLJ sequence with a gender-flip, a mission to sabotage the college festival, a wardrobe malfunction on the stage, a night at the supermarket for the protagonist with her-newly-transformed-childhood-crush. The latter remains Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) with an added assortment of cluttered candy, enough to give my eyes a heavy dose of sugar rush.
The writing never really wishes to go deeper with any emotions of vulnerability or insecurity, instead converting the young protagonist into a walking red-flag. The eternally-confused-but-eager-for-love era of the protagonist is as messy and unwatchable, as it is irritating and painfully frustrating – presenting conflicts that are frivolous in the garb of self-obsession that plagues the narrative.
After a point, I was so dissociated with the drama that I couldn’t care less about the protagonist who turns to her crusader trait while bustling through a rageful audition of The Rebel (on the shadowy lines of Roadies also starring the shadowy versions of Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman), and solving all her problems on live television. The final act was abrupt, but who was complaining really? That was the best part of the film – no, not the finale but the pacing! Yep, another week and another bout of headache, and another round of my brain cells wiped out by this ridiculous mess of a film. Who is paying for my therapy, really?
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are so annoying that I was almost willing to volunteer to co-write the lines of the characters, simply because it couldn’t get any worse with or without my participation. And before anyone chimes in with the words – ‘Oh This Isn’t For You Anyway’, the writing has no business to strip its characters off any remote signs of emotions in the narrative. After all, it isn’t Zombie Of The Year, no? The music is fairly decent, even as the songs do much of the heavy lifting here. The BGM is woeful devoid of any emotions, so much so that I didn’t a thing for any characters – even in their potentially quieter moments. The cinematography comprises of frames that are so flat and cosmetic. The focus remains on the glitz and glam with muted yet vibrant frames positioned to give the drama an outlook of a cookie-cutter commercial.
The editing pattern is woefully bad, overlooking multiple phases of lag over its massive runtime of over 150 minutes. In fact the drama was so long and meandering that after a point it became even more difficult to sit through its events – something that felt uneventful and never-ending. Director Sreeti Mukerji lacks the basic art of storytelling, focusing on the gimmicks more than the inward journey of her characters. It is surprising on how a coming of age drama is extremely devoid of any emotions or conflicts that are substantial, making frivolousness the flavour of the movie. The humour is mind numbingly bad, making this piece of direction one of the worst of the year.
Performances
The performances are way underpar by the members of the cast. Despite their characters being written as sketchy and one-dimensional, Neha Dhupia, Anurag Basu, and Nazneen Madan delivered fairly decent performances that felt relatively better than the rest of the cast. <span;>Kunaal Roy Kapur as Mr. Q felt entirely uninspired, as his repetitive comedic delivery was heavily weighed down by a lackluster script. He basically played an extension of every character that he has essayed in his filmography outside Delhi Belly (2011).
Piyush Khati as Mayank delivered a one-dimensional performance, struggling to bring any genuine nuance to his character’s sudden shift toward pop-star ambitions. Ansh Duggal as Dhruv remained frustratingly surface-level, offering an ordinary, predictable portrayal that failed to develop strong romantic chemistry. The focus remained on his chiseled jawline that overshadowed his inability to add any expressions to his persona.
Bianca Arora as Tara showed occasional sparks of potential but ultimately fell flat due to a reliance on over-the-top facial expressions rather than grounded emotion. A part of me says that she would have flourished if the writing was better. Aarushi Bajaj as Shyamili/Shy was limited by a stiff delivery that lacked the deep emotional resonance required for the character’s coming-of-age arc. The lack of nuance in the writing was reflective in her inconsistent act, the one that felt flattened and annoying after a promising start.
Conclusion
Don’t Be Shy is a glitzy, candy-coated headache that aggressively wipes out brain cells, serving as a frivolously mind-numbing ordeal reminiscent of equally disastrous atrocities like Naadaniyan (2025). The drama’s non-existent writing delivers a never-ending mental strain, turning the viewing experience into a painful test of patience further aggravated by silly, superficial execution and caricatured performances that mimic a cheap, cookie-cutter candy commercial. While the title begs the audience not to be shy, the final product fails to realize that it should have avoided being so relentlessly headache-inducing and trashy. Available on Amazon Prime Video.