- Date of Release: 07 February 2025
- Genre: Romance, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watched On: Theatres Only
Let's Meet
Introduction
The contrasting and unrelated lives of Nikhil (Tanuj Virwani) and Riya (Suman Rana) are quite evident early on in the Hindi film Let’s Meet. Nikhil is a TV actor desperately trying to make it to the silver screen. And the natural progression of his happening social life is spread in his personal space too. He loves attention and gets it (at times a lot) from females around him. On the other hand, Riya remains recluse and socially awkward during her gatherings. She is an introvert who isn’t particularly the life of a party, neither is she an outgoing person. She enjoys her solitude while staying in her space, so much so that she refrains from even being active on social media – considering it as trivial and unimportant in her life. These contrasting traits of Nikhil and Riya are glued together by the pandemic which in a way acts as a catalyst to their budding love story. It is in many ways that common ground on meet that you would best term as ‘No Man’s Land’ across borders between nations, or more specifically, a meeting ground between two drastically different personalities. And the same invariably, acts as a boon and a bane.
Story & Screenplay
One of the interesting facets of the writing in Lets Meet remains the light and frothy tone that defines the budding relationship of Nikhil and Riya. The world building is as interesting as the contrasting lives of Nikhil and Riya – for the latter, the space remains quiet and mundane while for the former, it is chaotic, hip and happening. The contrasting tones sit well perfectly with their individual personalities, although I did feel that the portions involving Nikhil’s then girlfriend, an aspiring actor herself, did go a couple of notches overboard. In a scene involving Nikhil talking to his casting director, you randomly see her appear only to throw a tantrum of sorts, all in the name of auditioning for a role and eventually landing up with the number of the casting director. Tell you what, folks from Aram Nagar will surely have a heart attack witnessing that scene!
The two parallel themes of the film that go hand in hand is that of the pandemic that saw the whole world shutting down, and the increase in the technological appetite of folks, all of whom were stuck in their houses. For Nikhil, it meant a temporary pause in his dating ‘Tinder-esque’ life that made him head online to while away his time. For Riya, it was all about taking that first step while veiling her actual identity, only to be sucked into the beast of the world of social media. It is interesting how budding relationships on social media have a trajectory that is drastically different from real life. Such is the virtual world that there is an immediate validation and immediate uncertainty that are key by-products of interacting online. And usually, both these ‘events’ are interlaced with each other, often affecting atleast one of the two concerned. In this case, it is easier to adjust for Nikhil who has had his share on ‘online’ fun (on dating apps), while it is a novel zone for Riya who does show signs of anxiety.
The crux of the drama remains the dynamics shared between Nikhil and Riya, even as the interactions expand into firstly getting each other to slowly pushing the envelope and ‘requesting’ for a video call. The push mostly comes from Nikhil that prompts a regig for Roya who continues to interact with him under a pseudo name and a concealed face. I liked how the focus remained on the two individuals while being aware of their individual vulnerabilities that organically formed an interesting dynamic. The brief issue was that the proceedings did get a little repetitive while not quite raising the stakes in the second act. The conversations were lovely but briefly on loop that did not quite allow the drama to transition into something more mature. But the same did change thankfully in the third act!
There is a lot more urgency in the third act firstly with respect to the changing dynamics between Nikhil and Riya that suddenly hit a roadblock, even as the former decides to begin his search for the latter. There is a drastic tonal shift too wherein the backdrop of the pandemic interestingly comes to the fore to play a third wheel in the relationship of Nikhil and Riya. The frothy tone suddenly paves way for a more darker reality that also takes place due to a change in the setting. Even on an emotional intellect, the drama changes direction from being a sweet little delectable romance to the one of longing. And HOLD YOUR BREATH – I DID NOT SEE THAT END COMING! In times when my complaint has been of the stories opting for a safe and cliched endings, this was a finale which was bold and brave. It probably just needed that extra layer of complexity to actually have a smooth landing but the creative decision of incompleteness must be applauded. The stakes suddenly go up which ensures that the writing ends on a rather heartfelt note. The screenplay has its moments but nearly hits home at the finishing line.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
There is a free-flowing energy between the two principal characters that are nicely highlighted through some light and frothy exchanges that thematically blend well with the world that is created. Likewise, the music and BGM also lace the narrative such that the emotions remain delectable between the couple. The cinematography is decent but uses the colour gradations really well. For instance, the frothy and pastle shades in the narrative that were predominant in the first two acts make way for darker shades to underline the shift in the tonality of the drama. The editing is decent and one thing positive here is that the length of the drama is kept in check by reducing its flab. Director Ricky Sandhu does a pretty good job in keeping the conversations light and frothy between the couple. Yes, there are tonal blips at the start but the director does control the proceedings quite effectively. Even the transition of tones from the second to the third act was well handled despite a ‘safe’ second act. His characterization of the two principal characters remained a strong point that eventually allowed the direction to leave a mark. The direction isn’t exactly ground-breaking but effective in communicating the underlying emotions.
Performances
If there is this one aspect that considerably lowers the impact of the drama, then it has to be the casting. This isn’t exactly true for its main leads but other actors that fill the screens around them. Without pin-pointing anyone, the collective feedback remained on how poor the dubbing was with some English words sticking out like a sore thumb. In a story with an urban setup, the implications of it are high and that does reduce the impact of the drama considerably. One of the few actors that does stand out is Supriya Shailja as Nalini. There is some level of control in her act that makes her come across as sincere and earnest. Suman Rana as Riya remains decent too (although also briefly struggling with the pronunciation of a few English words). She does use her eyes and expressions well to convey the underlying emotions that did create a subtle stir which was in sync with the drama. Tanuj Virwani as Nikhil remains the actor who is head and shoulders above the rest. There is considerable honesty in his act that always makes him affable while never tow the line with his intended emotions. While this was true for most parts of the runtime, he raises his game in a memorable final act given that the impact of it was solely dependent on his performance. If he had faltered, so would the film. But there was a sense of purpose of showcasing that urgency with the set of intended emotions in a manner that nearly hits home at the end. And that for me was a sign of an actor who did not buckle under pressure but instead, took the responsibility to see his team home!
Conclusion
Let’s Meet is a compelling romance on concealing identities that makes for a rather pleasant watch. It is may not be groundbreaking but it remains light, frothy and subtly heartfelt while managing to surprise you by the end of it. Available in a theatre near you.
