Feels Like Ishq Review: Short films follow young adults as they navigate the gamut of emotions
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Feels like Ishq is an Indian Hindi-language six-part anthology series that was released on 23 July 2021 on Netflix. The anthology series are directed by Anand Tiwari, Ruchir Arun, Tahira Kashyap, Sachin Kundalkar, Jaydeep Sarkar and Danish Aslam.
Rating : 3/5 (Overall)
Save The D(ay)te (31m)
The first anthology short series revolves around a high spirited bridesmaid and an on-duty wedding planner who banter over their contrasting ideas of love and marriage. They look for a runaway bride who develops cold feet just ahead of her nuptials in Goa and takes to her heels. Before they take the plunge, the reluctant bride does not exactly send the outsiders on a wild goose chase and her husband negotiates the terms with each other before getting married. She disappears before taking the vows of the marriage when the baarat is about to arrive.
The series is directed by Ruchir Arun who has depicted a wild chase love story and the script is written by Monisha Thyagarajan. Radhika Madan plays the role of Avni who is witty and gets jittery when thinking about taking the marriage vows. She has pulled off the role quite well. Amol Parashar as Jay plays the role of a wedding planner and is pulled into a deal he didn’t sign up for. He has done a great job with his performance.
Overall, the web series series is a heart-warming love story that provides comfort in each other’s quirky ways as they both seem to be relaxed in each other’s company.
Quaranteen Crush (31m)
The second part of the anthology web series is Quaranteen Crush. The story revolves around a teenage boy who is smitten by a girl Nimmi from Canada who is quarantined across the street. They both realise that they have a passion for music, and the boy Mahinder discovers numerous ways to talk to her. He delivers homemade food to her and she, in turn, guides him to do well in his studies. The story is the beginning of a puppy love that sprouts between two neighbours.
The series is directed by Tahira Kashyap and has a quick transition from boyish awkwardness to a mellow understanding of where he stands and when a sobering thought enters his mind, his attitude changes towards the girl completely. The screenplay by Gaza’s Dhaliwal depicts a young love that is blooming at a beginning stage and gives the audience nostalgic moments.
Mihir Ahuja plays the role of Mahinder who has done a decent job with his performance whereas Kajol Chugh as Nimmi has pulled off the role quite well. It’s a coming-of-age movie that revolves around the romantic genre of the pandemic that depicts solitude is much worse than it is.
Star Host (32m)
Star Host is the third-part anthology web series that revolves around a teenager who dreams of going on a trip to see the Northern Lights. So, to get the funding he does something he has never done before and meets a girl who is on a solo trip. So, the boy rents out his family’s Mahabaleshwar holiday home to a couple on a bed-and-breakfast basis and turns out that the guest who checks in does not have any companion. The girl has just broken up with her control-freak boyfriend and suffers from phobias that do not let her guard down. Will she be able to grab the opportunity and spend a couple of days with a stranger?
The series is directed by Anand Tiwari who has depicted a cliche romance that is predictable yet watchable and keeps you highly entertained from the start till the end.
The lead actors in the series are Rohit Sharaf plays the role of Aditya who has pulled off the role remarkably and Simraj Jahani plays the role of Tara and has pulled off the role quite well. The anthology series brings the freshness and relatability to encounter two, unlike souls.
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (29m)
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not is a fourth pet anthology series that revolves around a girl who meets a girl in an office setting. Even though they are complete opposites they are still drawn to each other. One has come out of the closet and one hasn’t because she is dealing with a painful breakup. Tarasha is a copywriter who joins an ad agency and Muskaan is a 23-year-old design professional. The latter comes out as bisexual and looks for ways to overcome the rough patch that she is in the middle of The anthology series is directed by Danish Adam who has beguilingly and intelligently portrayed the series that swirls around funny and classifying characters that revolves around romance and love. He never loses his overall goal even though trading a lesbian love story. The story does not dive deep into romanticism and sticks to its ground and portrays a love story.
Saba Azad plays the role of Tarasha who has pulled off the role quite well and Shane’s the narrative with her performance whereas Sanjeeta Bhattacharya plays the role of Muskaan who has pulled off the role quite decently.
Interview (27m)
Interview is a fifth part anthology series that revolves around two job seekers who are quite ambitious and are in competition to get a job. Both of them have an encounter where a Muslim girl and a Malayali boy meet each other. The Malayali boy resides in Mumbai and has difficulty speaking in Hindi and adds as a disadvantage when he applies for the same job as the Muslim girl in an electronic superstore. The girl helps the latter out of her way with tips before he steps into the interview room. The rest of the story forms around how they take a step forward with their relationship.
The anthology series is directed by Sachin Kundalkar who has depicted a simple yet compelling love story that is light-hearted and highly entertaining for the viewers to stream it on Netflix. The directorial touches in the series are elegant yet simple and have minor details which pave the way with intriguing complexities.
Neeraj Madhav as Rajeev has pulled off the role quite decently and adds value to the narrative with his performance whereas Zayn Marie Khan plays the role of Shahana has done a fine job with her performance in the series.
Ishq Mastana (25m)
Ishq Mastana is the last anthology series that revolves around Kabir who is suffering from a breakup and plans to go on a date with activist Mehr. Kabir thinks it will lead to a one night stand but it’ll be much more than a no-strings-attached thing where he finds himself in a student protest meeting. Mehr is an activist and stands around doing nothing while animals are dying and forests are razed. What starts to be a casual date as strangers will be developing into much more.
The last anthology series is directed by Jaydeep Sarkar who has portrayed a unique love story that takes its title from a 15th-century song that is composed by a Sufi poet. The script is co-written by Subhra Chatterjee which hinges on clashing two opposing worldviews. The director has portrayed a love story that combines politics and poetry.
Skand Thakur plays the role of Kabir who has pulled off the role quite decently who is into poetry and looks for casual dating while suffering from a broken heart. He has done a fine job with his performance. Tanya Maniktala plays the role of Mehr who is an activist and fights battles. She has pulled off the role quite well.
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