Kho Gaye Hum Kahan: Social Beings

A Review

We are social beings who are tied to our social media. Every relationship, real or curated, demands its own set of rules, unspoken norms, and expectations. And within these webs of interaction, authenticity becomes a near impossibility. Did we, perhaps, lose sight of ourselves somewhere in the pursuit of likes and followers?

Zoya Akhtar's recent Netflix release, "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan," stands in stark contrast to the underwhelming reception of her other work, "Archies." This coming-of-age tale, directed by Arjun Varain Singh and produced by Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, and Reema Kagti, showcases Akhtar's mastery of the "friendship film." From "Dil Chahta Hai" to "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara," she has captured the essence of youthful camaraderie, and "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" completes an unexpected trilogy of decade defining friendship content.

Aesthetics reign supreme in this generation, and the film reflects this obsession with filtered moments and pastel-hued dreamscapes. Mumbai, in "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan," is a playground for the privileged, far removed from the realities of many viewers. Yet, this dreamy facade is precisely what draws us in.

The story revolves around three friends, Ahana, Neil, and Imaad (played by Ananya Pandey, Adarsh Gourav, and Siddhant Chaturvedi), navigating the complexities of personal and social lives. The simplicity of the plot is its strength, relying on relatable situations rather than grand events. It's a reflection of our lives, our struggles, and our connections.

Social media has redefined how we perceive and interact with one another. Conversations that once spanned letters or face-to-face encounters are now relegated to texts, emojis, and the ever-present possibility of ghosting. "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" tackles this phenomenon head-on, exploring the anxieties and uncertainties that lurk beneath the curated online personas. Ahana who is someone that I, as a viewer, would never expect to be subjected to ghosting. She is the kind of person who seems to have life in order; a great job, ride or die friends and a caring boyfriend and yet the anxiety of being acceptable looms above.

Ananya Pandey has certainly given a career best performance. She even dominated a few scenes, stealing the moments from scene partners. There was a seasoned quality that took me by surprise and the lack of overreactions was definitely a positive improvement. She embodied Ahana’s stress, overthinking and ambition so well that it is kind of hard to distinguish where she was Ahana and where she brought her own personal experiences onto the set.

I do have to comment on how Ahana’s story was also one of the most well rounded story in the film. There wasn’t any abruptness to it which is something that irked me about the others. Unlike the other plots, there wasn’t any dramatization required in her story which made it in line with the simplicity that film aimed to achieve.

I did expect a little more of her story towards the end because although there was a resolution to her conflict, it felt completed in haste. Unfortunately, the characters of her story (Kat and Rohan) were underwhelming and thus the ending fell flat but I do have to voice my praise to the writers. The paranoia and the overthinking and the irrationality wasn’t written in a manner that diminished the impact they have on people. It wasn’t ridiculed and handled with great care.

Imaad is an up and coming stand up. His writing is one that I felt could have been done much better. His stand up sets didn’t justify the fame that we was getting. The jokes had great and relevant premises but the punchlines weren’t smart enough. They missed the “great” factor which would have justified Imaad’s rising success. Another reason why his story bothered me was that they didn’t let his story breathe. We didn’t have enough time to process his interactions because they only harped on his need for online dating validation. They forgot his story in the middle only to throw everything in together towards the end. Kalki and Siddhant also had barely passable chemistry and thus their relationship hardships were a little hard to believe. It didn’t help that even that turmoil was depicted only in the later parts of the film. Siddhant did have the charm and comic timing thus saving the character. Apart from the underpar jokes, the aim of the story was certainly shocking and I wish they had given it a better forum to be told.

The third friend was Neil; a fitness trainer with the aim to start his own gym. Finances, relationships and jealousy; he battled them all. While initially I was really impressed by his story, towards the end I think they wrote him in just to remove all their anger on trolls. There was a spiteful nature with which the story was handled which overshadowed the extremely important theme of online trolling. The thin veil of personal and social life is even thinner for influencers, social media personalities and celebrities. They are often subject to awful things done by trollers and the film had a great chance to tackle this head on but I think it took a more petty turn. Adarsh Gourav did an okay job with the character but maybe the messy plotline didn’t give him the chance to truly shine.

While each story felt like it was missing a tangent, overall the movie was a good watch. It didn’t feel strained and almost all the themes were so potent that it didn’t feel unnecessary. It is one of the few films that actually did communicate with the demographic and didn’t diminish social media eccentrics to mere gags. The best feature of the film was the aesthetic that it consistently maintained without compromising on the story. Without comparing it to Akhtar’s previous films, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan was certainly an unexpected wonder. It did make me think about the influence of social media in my life and the unsaid rules that it brings to life. From the way we present our days to others to how much weight we give our interactions in this platform. It may not be a must watch but it definitely one that you will not regret viewing.