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MOVIE REVIEW: Nadaaniyan

By Gitanjali Chak

April 2025

Nadaaniyan

Starring: Ibrahim Ali Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Mahima Chaudhry, Dia Mirza, Suniel Shetty

Producers: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta

Director: Shauna Gautam

Music Directors: Sachin-Jigar

This glossy high school drama is a page from the same book as Karan Johar’s Student of The Year, but minus its trademark energy and sparkle. It also seems to be inspired by the 2019 American teen romantic comedy The Perfect Date where Noah Centineo offers his services as a fake date. Shauna Gautam’s directorial debut, however, is anything but perfect.

As for the highly anticipated debut of Ibrahim Ali Khan, let’s just say he tries but not hard enough. Though he has a likeable screen presence like his father Saif Ali Khan, the guy needs to work on his expressions. As the career-driven Arjun Mehta, who finds himself falling in love, his performance lacks the charm to endear him to the audience. What’s worse, it seems his voice was dubbed. It just doesn't sound natural. Having said this, maybe all Ibrahim needs is a good director.

As the quintessential poor little rich girl, Khushi struggles to portray Pia’s inner turmoil. While there is something inherently earnest about the young actress, she desperately needs to be more confident in front of the camera and work on her dialogue delivery. As for the chemistry between Ibrahim and Khushi, you struggle to spot it!

But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. The senior actors who play the two sets of parents—Suniel Shetty, Mahima Chaudhry, Dia Mirza, and Jugal Hansraj—do complete justice to their roles and somewhat salvage it.

(Nadaaniyan is streaming on Netflix)

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