Aap Jaisa Koi Movie Review: Aesthetic Romance That Never Scratches Beneath the Surface

⭐ Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

Streaming on: Netflix
Director: Vivek Soni
Cast: R Madhavan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ayesha Raza, Manish Chaudhari, Namit Das

📝 Introduction: Love in Pastel, Not in Depth

Netflix’s Aap Jaisa Koi is a film that wants to be a poem but ends up a Pinterest board. With its soft lighting, nostalgic Kolkata aesthetic, and a romantic pairing of R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh, the movie sets the stage for a May-December romance that could’ve been heartfelt and layered. Instead, it floats on surface-level beauty, tiptoeing around the messier truths of modern relationships.

💑 May-December Romance with More Fantasy Than Reality

The film centers on Shrirenu Tripathi (R Madhavan), a 42-year-old Sanskrit teacher who is still a virgin due to a school-era heartbreak-turned-curse. He now spends his evenings venting to a caged rat and hanging out with his quirky roommate, Deepak (Namit Das). Enter Madhu Bose (Fatima Sana Shaikh), a 32-year-old French teacher with a penchant for Kishore Kumar and chiffon sarees.

Their love blossoms through chats on a clean, ad-free dating app called Aap Jaisa Koi. Though their chemistry has its cute moments—tea dates, riverside chats, black-and-white movie screenings—their connection feels more like a curated dream than an authentic evolution of love.

🏠 Family Drama: Familiar Tropes Repackaged

The film moves into Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani territory with clashing families—the patriarchal Tripathis vs. the progressive Boses. The conflict is introduced with dramatic potential, but is resolved with laughably muted confrontations, including an absurdly silent hotel showdown that plays more like a stage rehearsal than a movie climax.

Shrirenu’s conservative brother Bhanu (Manish Chaudhari) embodies toxic masculinity, while the Bose family is every Dharma fantasy of liberal Bengali households. There’s a noticeable lack of nuance in how these worlds are presented, reducing social commentary to cardboard stereotypes.

🧠 Mixed Messaging and Missed Opportunities

Aap Jaisa Koi tries to touch on themes like male loneliness, societal expectations, digital intimacy, and patriarchal rigidity—but it never digs deep. The plot twist (that Madhu was the same woman on the dating app) is predictable, and the fallout lacks emotional weight. The film hints at challenging ideas but quickly backs off to preserve its delicate tone.

What should’ve been a compelling character journey for Shrirenu turns into a muddled exercise in performative wokeness. The film asks good questions but doesn’t wait around for the answers.

🎭 Performances & Aesthetics: Style Over Substance

R Madhavan brings quiet charm to Shrirenu, playing him with a blend of innocence and hesitation. Fatima Sana Shaikh, graceful and composed, does her best to lift the film with her grounded presence. Their chemistry works in parts but is often overshadowed by the film’s obsession with aesthetics.

The supporting cast, especially Namit Das and Ayesha Raza, are competent and add brief sparks of authenticity. The cinematography is dreamy, the production design lush, and the music mildly hummable—but all this can’t compensate for a script that plays it too safe.

👨‍⚖️ Final Verdict: Pretty but Painlessly Predictable

Aap Jaisa Koi is less a film and more a mood board of nostalgia, prettiness, and polite rebellion. It tries to emulate the emotional punch of Dharma dramas and the introspective tone of Her, but ends up being a scattershot attempt at modern romance. The aesthetics may charm you, but the emotional core is undercooked.