A fanciful air envelopes Aap Jaisa Koi's modest drama, of a story lost in its own bubble that's only burst by villains in the form of judgemental jerks and heroes in need of rescuing, observes Sukanya Verma.
Ashok Kumar...hot?
His tone smacks of surprise but there's a glint of hope in it.
Perhaps the sweet, sober fella too stands a chance with a lady who finds Dadamoni hot.
His confidence grows as they test if their cute girl-meets-nerdy boy can be turned into a recipe for a rom-com whilst giving into the magic of the movies inside a cozy Kolkata theatre playing Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.
Director Vivek Soni's charmingly crafted Aap Jaisa Koi wears its old-fashioned heart on its sleeve but is also quick to dismiss outdated relationship ideals thriving in the shadow of patriarchy.
Even though Aap Jaisa Koi begins with a song from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (and not the Qurbani banger of the same name), it draws inspiration from Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani for its social commentary wrapped in a romcom.
Here too, the girl hails from a broadminded Bengali family (spearheaded by an elegant Bina) colouring their pretty Kolkata baadi with art, taste and culture.
The guy is a Jamshedpur resident whose chauvinistic big brother (Manish Chaudhary doing a befitting coconut face patriarch) doesn't miss any chance to slight his kitchen-bound spouse (Ayesha Raza) or berate his kitchen-resisting beti.
Woke objectives aside, these are two different movies.
Evoking memories of Soni's Meenakshi Sundareshwar in its droll imagery and playfully curated visions of Justin Prabhakaran and Rochak Kohli's vibrant score, there's an easy air to Aap Jaisa Koi's thorny predicaments penned by Radhika Anand and Jehan Handa.
A fanciful air envelopes its modest drama, of a story lost in its own bubble that's only burst by villains in the form of judgemental jerks and heroes in need of rescuing.
R Madhavan's emotional agility is adept at both.
He plays Shrirenu Tripathi, a 42-year-old virgin as well as a Sanskrit teacher, which makes him an unmarketable force in the middle-aged wedding market and butt of ridicule in a classroom full of prank-playing pubescent boys scribbling things like 'O Shri Kal Aana' on the blackboard. (The teens win this round, I have to admit.)
The man finally finds something to lighten up about when he downloads Aap Jaisa Koi, a racy chatting app, on his goofy best friend's (Namit Das) behest when the orgasmic hiss on the other end describes his voice as Gulzar meets George Clooney.
Basically, the whole shtick is for the sake of a tame spoiler that's foreseeable no soon as it happens and yet the movie has such a softness about it, you play along.
Things look up for Shri when a match shows up in the form of Madhu Bose (Fatima Sana Shaikh), a French teacher from Kolkata.
She's too good to be true. She looks like a dream, earns more, is ready to shift base to Jamshedpur, doesn't mind the age gap, respects his boring personality and doesn't play coy.
Turns out the last bit is a problem with Shri showing more toxic Roopesh Kumar than amiable Ashok Kumar traits, immediately casting a shadow on their 'époustouflant' meets 'indraajal' love story.
Aap Jaisa Koi uses the opportunity for more pressing concerns on its mind as it explores the onus of propriety lying on a woman and perfectly courteous gentlemen behaving like sexist schmucks when confronted by a woman's right to desire.
Its underlying feminism balks at the breed of men believing they are in charge of a woman's agency.
Before it arrives at its trope-y smash-the-patriarchy conclusions in the form of an obligatory speech to drive that point, there's a unique but underdeveloped twist, starring a secondary, silently brewing love affair that strives for change.
Slipped in somewhat heavy-handedly, this oddly-introduced moment of rebellion doesn't quite make you sit up and notice the same way the tender glances between the leads do.
Scenes of the twain musing over the romance of waiting or leisurely sipped cups of flavoured chai come alive in Madhavan's affable charms and Fatima's lingering enigma capturing their lyrical journey from Aap Jaisa Koi to Baat Ban Jaaye.
Aap Jaisa Koi streams on Netflix.
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