Ishq Next Door Episode 8 Review: The new JioCinema original series, directed by Akhilesh Vats, follows the life of a young man catching feelings for the girl next door. The series’ main cast includes Abhay Mahajan as Dev, Natasha Bharadwaj as Meher, Purav Jha as Chuttan, Mrinal Dutt as Ashwin, Gopi Desai as Dev’s mother, and other actors. Each episode from the 10-part series will be released daily, and the runtime of the episodes will be approximately 20 minutes.
– Ishq Next Door Episode 8 Review Contains Spoilers –
Ishq Next Door Episode 8 Recap
The community of Raja Vihar is preparing for the Dussehra celebration, and Meher sets up a boutique stall. When Dev arrives, she gets disappointed in him for turning in late. Dev loves Meher, but since this is his first time in a relationship, he fails to express his feelings by doing basic stuff. Ashwin comes in with a table and helps Meher arrange the stall, leaving Dev feeling insecure.
Back at home, Chuttan conducts an audition for the Ramayana play. When his crush Tanya arrives, he instantly selects her as Sita. Dev confronts Chuttan, and the latter advises that men are like lizard tails and they must always run behind women. Dev asks his mother to prepare two mango milkshakes for him and Meher but ends up watching Ashwin and Meher drink them.
When Meher leaves to collect things, Ashwin starts to trigger Dev by saying that he senses Meher having second thoughts. Dev becomes defensive and snaps back at Ashwin, stating that he probably also sees the words “she still loves me” stuck on her head. The two argue for a minute before Dev walks away.
The celebration starts, and the community people have their best time around. Ashwin is seen sitting with a bunch of kids, explaining the story of Ram and Ravan. Before he could finish about how Ram found that Ravan’s naval is his deadly spot, Ashwin receives a call.
On the stage, Chuttan gloriously acts as Ram, but Lankesh, who is supposed to be Ravan, misses his dialogues and yaps nonsense. But it still makes the crowd laugh and enjoy. Meher notices that Dev is lost in thoughts and feels upset about it. When they both go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel, Meher questions him about his mood.
Dev opens up about Ashwin, and Meher laughs at his jealousy. Dev explains that he is feeling insecure and knows he hasn’t been the right man so far. Meher shares her side of the story and boosts Dev’s confidence. She also says that she isn’t expecting a fancy relationship but one with support and attention.
Meher notices Dev wearing the floral shirt that she bought and asks him why he hasn’t exchanged it. Previously he told Meher that he isn’t comfortable wearing such loud shirts. Dev tells her that he didn’t want to disappoint his girlfriend and that he felt the need to break his comfort zone. Meher goes in to kiss Dev on his cheeks, but the latter has other plans. He smooches her on the lips, and they both turn red. Chuttan also enjoys a small moment with Tanya (it’s so cute and funny).
Back at the boutique stall, Dev starts to talk to Meher cheesily, and the couple leaves for a high-rise spot. From there, they watch the Ravan effigy burn and hold hands. Just then, Ashwin meets with Ruchi, and she hands him over a bank document. She requests him not to tell anyone about it.
The little kids ask Ashwin to finish the story, and he says that Ram won over Ravan because he had a Vibishan like Ruchi on the team. It’s evident that Ashwin is Ram at this point, trying to bring down Dev with the document Ruchi gave.
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Ishq Next Door Episode 8 Review
The cheesy romance scenes between Meher and Dev works well. Additionally, Chuttan and Tanya’s cringy romance got me laughing in a good way. Especially the scene where Tanya and Chuttan’s world stops; I lost it. What was with Tanya brushing her plaited hair while flirtatiously looking at Chuttan? Damn, the writers understood the assignment.
As expected, Ashwin isn’t planning to let Dev and Meher enjoy a peaceful relationship. To begin with, their relationship isn’t flawless, but the little opportunity they have to build their love story might be demolished by Ashwin. However, we still can’t be sure that he is trying to bring Dev down. So let’s wait and watch.
I loved the cinematography in this particular episode, especially the frame where Dev and Meher intertwine their fingers when Ravan’s effigy burns. Additionally, it’s a nice thing to show such beautiful culture to the outside world through visuals, so kudos to the team for adding a scene at the Dussehra setting.
Ishq Next Door is streaming on JioCinema. Let us know your thoughts on this series in the comment section.
Also read: All the Reviews of Ishq Next Door!