‘Aap Jaisa Koi' review: Polished but superficial romance

Mint

3 days ago

In Aap Jaisa Koi, director Vivek Soni takes on the delicate subjects of late-blooming romance, masculine vulnerability, modern love, and old-fashioned chauvinism. The film, now streaming on Netflix, stars R. Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh as two professionals navigating a hesitant, imperfect courtship.
R. Madhavan plays Shrirenu 'Shri' Tripathi, a 42-year-old Sanskrit professor from Jamshedpur whose gentle, brooding nature hides years of emotional repression, social awkwardness, and societal taunts—including from his brother and best friend. He finds an outlet through an app aimed at lonely hearts called 'Aap Jaisa Koi'. Fatima Sana Shaikh portrays Madhu Bose, a French teacher from Kolkata. She's confident and open-minded, but carries her own emotional history. Madhu and Shri become an unlikely match, introduced by a kindly intermediary. She is everything Shri is not, and her interest in him makes him suspicious. In the company of Madhu, 42-year-old Shri, for the first time in his life, experiences female attention and intimacy.
With this setup—opposites attract—the film could have been a poignant, character-driven drama about connection in the digital age—and in real life. It began confidently enough to suggest it might even be a fresh romcom. Unfortunately, the narrative is burdened by a script that lacks depth and a story that never quite takes off. Interactions are built around overly familiar themes of sexual conservatism, ego, and misunderstanding.
The core problem lies in the writing (by Radhika Anand and Jehan Handa). The screenplay is thin and structurally uneven, which could explain why the director introduces elements of magical realism, fantasy, and a clutch of tuneless songs. These elements, while occasionally effective, feel more like aesthetic patches than storytelling tools. At times, the film seems more invested in how it looks than in what it's saying. The emotional beats are laid out but never earned. For instance, Madhu's reason for choosing Shri is rather instinctive and immediate. The central conflict is one-sided, and there's no doubt it will be resolved and neatly tied with a bow.
Madhavan lends warmth and sincerity to his role, capturing 42-year-old Shri's hesitation with subtlety, but his performance often feels stranded by the limited material. The actor handles Shri's sudden shift to chauvinism and double standards smoothly, but the character jump doesn't seamlessly blend with the setup. Shaikh brings confidence and energy to Madhu, but her character often becomes a mouthpiece for the film's messaging rather than a fully fleshed-out individual. Madhavan and Shaikh's chemistry feels strained and overly polite—never quite evoking either attraction or tension.
Despite the shortcomings at its centre, Aap Jaisa Koi does have a few notable performances by the supporting cast. Ayesha Raza is most affecting as Shrirenu's quietly observant sister-in-law, whose character has the most dramatic and interesting arc. But again, the screenplay bypasses the journey to directly present the outcome. Namit Das, playing Shrirenu's confidant Deepak, is in equal measures loyal and disruptive. Through Deepak and Shri's older brother (played by Manish Chaudhari), the film establishes ingrained and inherited patriarchy and gender biases.
The cinematography captures the distinct atmospheres of Jamshedpur and Kolkata, and the background score complements the tone without overwhelming it. But for all its polish and promise, Aap Jaisa Koi remains a story that feels superficially realised to leave a lasting impression.