Project: Mismatched Season 2
Lead Cast: Prajakta Koli (Dimple), Rohit Saraf (Rishi), Muskkaan Jafferi (Celina) Rannvijay Singha (Professor Siddharth Sinha)
Ratings: 3.5 stars
As E.L. James rightly says, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince”, and that pretty much sums up Mismatched season 2, but with ‘pride and prejudice’. But when the ‘prince’ in question has got the charm and elegance of Rohit Saraf, even a relationship and equation which is ‘mismatched’ can do wonders. When Mismatched Season 1 spearheaded by Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf dropped on Netflix in the year 2020, everyone fell madly in love with just the sheer innocence and cuteness that these two brought to the table. Add to that, you don’t often see the ‘blue-eyed boy’ of OTT Rohit Saraf struggling too much in reality when it comes to impressing girls, correct? But seeing a hopeless romantic Rishi put his best foot forward to woo Dimple during a summer course after just loving her photograph was quite a cute watch. Season 1 wasn’t predictable at all and had its own set of twists and turns to keep the audience engaged.
Season 2 begins from s1’s cliffhanger. The culprit who stole Dimple’s unique app idea is yet to be found out. The communication between the two has gone down ridiculously and more than anything else, it is the deadly combination of constant misunderstandings and untimely judgements that has turned their relationship really sour. Well, “Assumption is the mother of all problems” and hence one shouldn’t really be quick to throw judgements without realising the entire matter. Well, it seems like everyone apart from Rishi and Dimple understands the same. So, will Rishi and Dimple be able to settle their differences and move forward towards a romantic love life together? Will the culprit who’s the main reason behind Dimple’s sleepless night be caught? Will it be a happy ending for the two or will their relationship and love tale break apart? No spoilers are allowed from here onwards folks.
What’s strikingly impressive in Mismatched Season 2 is how organically, the characters of Dimple and Rishi have matured from season 1. Contrary to season 1, season 2 has shown a lot more of their humane side which will make you relate and understand some of their decisions which might otherwise seem ‘questionable’. To sum it up in a nutshell, the characters have emerged then what they have been in s1. There’s an emotional connection that you will find with all the characters and that’s why nothing can really be pinpointed as ‘black’ or ‘white’. Well, ‘grey’ has actually been justified very practically to relate with the youth. The likes of Rannvijay Singha, Vihaan Samat, Muskkaan Jafferi, and other supporting characters have too played their part and done justice to the narrative within their limited scope and boundaries. Special mention must go to Vihaan Samat and Muskkaan Jafferi for their impressive efforts. While Vihaan successfully brings out his vulnerable side to good effect, Muskkaan Jafferi as Celina impresses effortlessly as someone who’s been cornered by one and all due to getting overburdened by her own insecurities. Her portrayal while darting dicey also turns out to be relatable. The ‘uber cool’ Rannvijay Singha as Professor Siddharth Sinha continues from where he left the last time in season 1. He’s effortless in his portrayal and that’s certainly why we get the quintessential ‘college professor’ vibes from his end. Director Akarsh Khurana as a storyteller manages to keep you hooked till the very end. There’s something about his direction that will make you believe and admire the power of ‘silly romance and love-filled punchlines’ in today’s time and age of hookups and dating apps. The screenplay is crisp and if you think that Mismatched Season 2 is relatable only to the younger generation, you are terribly mistaken. There’s a lot of typical Indian family drama involved as well which makes it quite a watch for people across all age groups.
Personally, what was the most impressively sensitive treatment of issues like mental and sexual health, homophobia, bullying, social media toxicity and more unfolds the screenplay in gripping layers. What makes it even better is that all of it has been successfully packaged and blended with the right dose of entertainment to avoid making it look preachy, dull and jejune.
Mismatched Season 2 will keep you equally glued to your screens, making it the ideal binge-watching experience for you all on Netflix. Both Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf are absolute sweethearts and most importantly, they play their respective characters with finesse. A must-watch, irrespective of whether you believe in old-school romance or not. All hail love. All hail romance.
3.5/5 stars