When it comes to the Series based on the Youth of today, there is one production house that stands out – TVF. One of the reasons for it is that their content is relatable and not as flamboyant as the youth depicted in Bollywood having fancy cars and studying in posh colleges. Their content is more real and so there are real emotions involved too whether it is the characters involved or the obstacles that they go through or even a quiet heartbreak. TVF knows the pulse of today’s youth that no one else has been able to master. And so I have just finished watching Mismatched on Netflix, a new coming of age teenage drama. No TVF is not involved with this one, and so it left me curious if this would eventually be an intriguing watch or not. Lets find out.

Based on a novel titled ‘When Dimple Met Rishi’ by Sandhya Menon, Mismatched is a love story between two individuals in a college in Jaipur, except that they are total opposites from each other. The story is pretty routine and has nothing new to offer. Yet, in times of gritty thrillers, the story is a breath of fresh air to be honest. There were a few questions related to web designing as seen in the trailer – this story is different from that, it is a teenage love story. Also, the engineer in me told me that only HTML pages was used in the name of Java but that is a separate discussion😅. The screenplay is nice and breezy and partly relatable too. It is definitely character driven and so there are many characters, each with flaws which make them real. But one of the few drawbacks of the writing is that the characters are stereotypical – with the group comprising of a chocolate looking guy, a nerd, a self obsessed instagrammer and a bully. Their flaws are merely scratched on the surface, something which could have been explored more. The characters are not as real or relatable(most of them) as you would see in a TVF series. But, the screenplay doesn’t require you to think of all these factors, it is just meant for a leisurely viewing over the weekend and that it does perfectly. It will leave a smile on your face too! And it ends on a knife’s edge, nicely setting it up for the next season. The dialogues will definitely appeal to the youth. The music is outstanding and so is the BGM. The director’s chair is helmed by two directors – Akarsh Khurana(who has previously directed one of my favourite movies, Karwaan) and Nipun Dharmadhikari and the direction is pretty good. I loved the way the freshness and frothiness which is maintained throughout.

The performances are pretty good here. Abhinav Sharma as Krish is excellent and his comic timing will leave you in splits. Rannvijay Singh as Sid sir is a very endearing character and he does a swell job here. I really wish to see more of him on the silverscreen. Kritika Bharadwaj as Simran, the narcissistic teenager is first rate with some good screen presence. Taaruk Raina as Anmol definitely makes his presence felt. Devyani Shorey as Namrata is outstanding and you definitely feel for her character towards the end. Muskkaan Jaferi as Celina is confident and brilliant at the same time. I just loved how she effectitively used up fillers in certain scenes. Vihaan Samat as Harsh is a pure delight onscreen. Vidya Malavade as Zeenat is the pick of the actors for me. She will literally melt your heart with her performance and she deserves a spin off tale of her own. Which brings me to the lead pair – Dimple and Rishi essayed by Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf. I was impressed by the acting chops that Prajakta possessed in her short film, Khayaali Pulao and she is just brilliant yet again here. And I had just witnessed Rohit weave his magic in Ludo last week and his boyish charm is yet again on display here. He is equally brilliant. Together, they have a cute chemistry between them.

Mismatched was probably written from an adult’s perspective citing their interpretation of how youth are of today. That may not be entirely true, yet Mismatched makes for a breezy watch that is sure to melt your heart just that little and put a smile on your face. Available in Netflix.