Aap Jaisa Koi

Vivek Soni's directorial debut delivers a competently crafted romantic drama that feels frustratingly familiar despite its earnest intentions. This Netflix original attempts to breathe fresh life into the middle-aged romance template, pairing the reliable charm of R. Madhavan with Fatima Sana Shaikh's spirited energy in a cross-cultural love story that tackles contemporary social issues with varying degrees of success. While the film succeeds in creating genuine moments of warmth and connection between its leads, it ultimately falls victim to the very conventions it seeks to challenge, resulting in a viewing experience that satisfies without truly surprising.

Soni demonstrates solid technical competence behind the camera, crafting a visually pleasant film that captures both the academic tranquility of Jamshedpur and the cosmopolitan vibrancy of Kolkata. The cinematography serves the story adequately without ever achieving the kind of visual poetry that might elevate the material above its generic roots. The production design effectively contrasts the traditional world of Sanskrit academia with the modern sensibilities of contemporary urban life, though these contrasts often feel more schematic than organic. The pacing remains steady throughout, though certain sequences drag when the script indulges in overly explanatory dialogue about societal expectations and gender roles.

Madhavan delivers exactly what audiences expect from him at this stage of his career: a measured, thoughtful performance that invests even mundane exchanges with genuine emotional weight. His portrayal of Shrirenu Tripathi, the reserved Sanskrit professor, captures both the character's inherent decency and his deep-seated insecurities about stepping outside societal norms. Shaikh brings considerable vivacity to Madhu Bose, though her character occasionally feels more like a symbol of liberation than a fully realized individual. The supporting cast, including Ayesha Raza and Manish Chaudhari, provides solid work within the confines of their somewhat predictable roles as family members representing various degrees of traditional resistance.

The film's greatest strength lies in its willingness to address serious topics about patriarchal expectations and the challenges facing middle-aged individuals seeking romantic fulfillment. However, these themes often receive treatment that feels more dutiful than inspired, with conversations that sound more like position statements than natural dialogue. The script, penned by Radhika Anand and Jehan Handa, demonstrates clear knowledge of contemporary social discourse but struggles to integrate these ideas seamlessly into the romantic framework. The result is a film that occasionally preaches when it should simply observe, undermining the very naturalism that makes the central relationship compelling.

Despite these structural weaknesses, the film generates genuine emotional resonance in its quieter moments. The developing relationship between Shrirenu and Madhu benefits from both performers' commitment to finding truth within familiar situations. Their chemistry feels authentic rather than manufactured, allowing viewers to invest in their journey even when the surrounding circumstances feel contrived. The cultural clash between traditional expectations and personal desire provides rich material, though the film's resolution leans toward the overly tidy.

At one point in the movie she says that a nerdy guy like him and a cute girl like her would make a nice romcom . Unfortunately this doesn't happen and what follows is a collection of pointless scenes with confused sentiments.

The plot is about a shy, docile, unromantic Sanskrit teacher Shrirenu who plays a Sitar and a young lady Madhu teaching French language who plays a piano. He belongs to a middle class family of Jamshedpur while she belongs to a Bengali family based in Kolkata.

Despite their different approaches to life both get along fine at first, romance blooms but there are disagreements over petty issues and they break up. They love each other and later when their misunderstandings are getting cleared Madhu's earlier boyfriend makes an appearance. This complicates matters and creates the customery triangle but worse follows when there is an emotional upheaval in both families.

The movie meanders between the endearing and the insipid. While the vicissitudes of romantic relationships are well projected there are quite a few totally unconvincing scenarios in the families of couple. To me the plot twist at the end appeared grossly unconvincing and outlandish. Overall the movie looked like a missed opportunity for the makers. Both Madhavan and Fatima do what the character limitations permit them to do but these characters could have made a better impression if the plotline was realistic and stronger.

Started off very well - characters did justice at the start - but it became a very slow moving tv serial style drama after Curt's half - it stayed with the essence of the message until the end - but the dialogues and BGM was not powerful enough to let audience stay in love with the characters.. lack of power toward the end .

Cast was good for each character - each person played with full justice individually - just when the characters get woven together as the family - the chemistry was not powerful enough.

Coming of age in terms of equal respect to both sides of the relationship in a marraige - message stayed consistent - that was good.

Positives:

1. R. Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh's chemistry was good and suited the story, which revolves around a 42-year-old unmarried man. The rest of the film builds on their chemistry.

2. I can say the dialogues were at least good, especially the Bengali accent-not like the recent horror films I've seen. They preserved the essence of the words and emotions in a simple way, which didn't sound bad at all.

3. The visuals and cinematography are the third-best aspect. They are beautifully captured. The camera angles and the old charm of Kolkata are used perfectly. It looks authentic and leaves a strong impact throughout the film.

4. Songs.

5. Background score (BGM).

Negatives:

1. Weak screenplay. Even though the duration was short, I stayed hooked only because of the three positives mentioned above.

2. Weak story. It tries to teach something but fails, as the narrative doesn't stick to its point and keeps losing direction.

3. Poor use of side characters. Their integration into the story felt weak and unconvincing.

4. Weak comedy-more of a hit-or-miss case. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't even try to land the joke.

5. Weak ending. The film started on a good note, but the ending felt messy and lacked emotional depth. It left no real impact.

I was so excited for this film, but it turned out to be just average.

Rating: 5/10.

The first half is great with a nice bit of comedy. Madhavan is solid most part of it except in some scenes. Overall after long could watch a Bollywood move in one go so is captivating enough.

The movie tries to convey a one sided message of males being judgemental, well the movie itself is judgemental in judging the males so ! When in reality lot of females probably will have issues too or will be judgemental for the kind of things they may believe are ok for them to do or are very cool about (Pyar Ka Panchanama portrays this well). Also probably the dramatic angle of Kusum bhabhi getting involved could've been avoided and rather stick to main story line. This side story also unknowingly (or maybe intentionally) conveys the wrong message of overruling a long standing family structure assuming probably an attraction or a lending shoulder to be love. Many a families have been destroyed with such "love".

If the point of the movie is love only seeks love, then institution of marriage probably shouldn't exist. It is very convenient and affordable to be loving when stakes are not equally high like in marriage.