Ishq-E-Nadaan Review: Directed by Avishek Ghosh and written by Sudeep Nigam, the new JioCinema romance drama portrays how love works for different people of different generations. The movie stars Neena Gupta as Charulata, Lara Dutta as Ramona Singh, Kanwaljeet Singh as Subhash Kapoor, Shriya Pilgaonkar as Siya, Mohit Raina as Ashutosh, Suhail Nayyar as Piyush, Mrinal Dutt as Raghav, Samvedna Suwalka as Meenakshi aka Meenu, Gaurav Sharma as Mahesh and other actors.
Produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Avishek Ghosh, Raj Malik, and Shilpan Vyas Tinu, the movie’s cinematography was done by Gairik Sarkar while Dnyanada Samarth led the editing team. The music director of the film is Raja Narayan Deb who is known for his works in movies like Khoj, Biler Diary, and more. The runtime of the movie is 1 hour 55 minutes and is available in Hindi.
– Ishq-E-Nadaan Review Contains Mild Spoilers –
Ishq-E-Nadaan Review
Movies, where viewers get to see different people’s love stories, aren’t a new thing (take, for example, Love Actually). While Ishq-E-Nadaan feels like it, the ending will surprise one. Apparently, all the characters are somehow connected though they don’t belong to the same generation which is a good twist to the regular plot.
The characters’ journey is set in Mumbai among the rich faction. Watching Meenu, Mahesh, their daughter, and the elderly woman, Charulata, eat lentils and rice with spoons, pulled a bombastic side eye from me. When someone becomes utterly rich does that mean the regular habit of eating with hands is over? Hygienic perhaps, okay. But, most of the time they were talking in English and it got me fazed. For real, why do people forget their wonderful culture and sit tight in the modern era? Pfft.
Coming to the flick’s plot, we’re introduced to multiple couples, each with a different tale to share. Firstly, let’s talk about Charulata and Subhash Kapoor. Charulata visits her daughter Meenu in Mumbai and encounters the ex-film director Subhash. They both instantly click over witty romance. Though their blooming romance feels good, Charulata’s hidden love story is the movie’s highlight and I loved every ounce of it.
Then we have Ashutosh, a hopeless romantic who doesn’t wish to settle with another woman ever since his wife passed away. Though love knocks at his door via Ramona Singh, things don’t go well because the lady has other plans. After this, Ashutosh meets another gem in Rome but their love story gets stuck in time.
Finally, we have the modern couple, Siya and Piyush. Siya who returned to Mumbai from the US, learns that she is pregnant. She isn’t ready to confront Raghav, the father of the child since they’re not a married couple. On the other hand, she meets an amazing submissive guy Piyush and develops feelings for him. When Raghav, Piyush, and Siya come together, chaos starts. Interestingly there is also a queer couple (I don’t want to spoil by telling the names) which is a fantastic addition.
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Through all these couples, the viewers have a chance to observe the consequences of mistakes and how every person from a different generation handles them. Speaking of the recent gen, that is Siya, is completely independent while the character of Charulata is the opposite. When she was explaining about her late husband Pritamji, it was clear she didn’t have a happy marriage but yet she lived with him. This portrays the typical mindset of Indian women who are bound to abide the patriarchy back in time.
The male characters of the movie are something to keenly look at and learn from. Subhash’s character is a brilliant example set for elderly people to give life a shot without depending on others. Piyush represented men who want to take a breather and not struggle as the breadwinner of the family. Ashutosh’s character is marked as this person who madly loved his close ones and remained old school. Similarly, there are a few more characters that represent various types of people.
Speaking of the actors, every one of them did a great job but something about Lara Dutta (who starred as Ramona) stood out. Her eyes have so much emotion that in every scene, one can understand the atmosphere through her expressions. When Ashutosh shared about his wife’s demise, the way Ramona looked at him with love and pity, wah, gave me chills.
The writer needs a raise because the dialogues are so poetic and meaningful. When the characters were expressing their feelings, the words they used felt dramatic in a good way. It is through these sorts of dialogues, viewers get a chance to look at love from different angles.
I have to appreciate the cinematography and the editing team because certain scenes were blended together fantastically. One such scene was when Charulata closed her door, the scene cut to Siya placing the milk vessel down to cause the door’s sound. Such a good edit!
Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved Ashutosh’s story that coordinated with Charulata. The love letters were the highlight! This movie had the chance to become one of the iconic love stories but due to Siya, Piyush, and Raghav’s sub-plot, a hopeless romantic and old school like me, didn’t feel the win.
Can we go back in time and appreciate beautiful love stories where people sacrifice, forgive, compromise, let go and love earnestly instead of the modern love that’s so narcissistic? Please?
Ishq-E-Nadaan is streaming on JioCinema. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.