Review: ‘Yeh Pyaar Nahi To Kya Hai’ has the POTENTIAL to be Sony’s next ‘Kuch Rang Pyar Ke..’

Not because it is similar, but because of its simplicity..

Sony TV hit it’s jackpot over two years ago, when it launched Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi which marked actor, Shaheer Sheikh’s return to television along with Erica Fernandes’ debut on the small screen.

After having juggled with mythological and fantasy shows since then, the channel recently presented yet another romantic drama in the form of Yeh Pyaar Nahi Toh Kya Hai, which went on-air last week.

A promised friendship going sour only to be rekindling at snail’s pace several years later, thus giving birth to love is what forms the crux of the show.

Here, I analyse if Yeh Pyaar Nahi To Kya Hai will actually be the winner, the makers intend it to be.

The Story

Set in the cold but dusty streets of Delhi, Anushka Reddy (Palak Jainn) has returned to the city of studying in America and she arrives in the early hours of a morning.

Simultaneously, we are introduced to Siddhanth (Namit Khanna), a young and dashing lawyer, who is extremely overconfident and arrogant about things and people, but is loving person, when it comes to the heart.

Soon, a ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ inspired running scene is shown to us, where Anushka is being followed by Siddhanth, also showing us flashbacks from the kind of bond they shared, when they were young.

The base plot is extremely simple to understand. Siddhanth and Anushka were inseparable, when they were young, but a petty misunderstanding and unforgiving ego led to them part ways, followed by which Anushka went abroad to study. This made an arrogant Siddhanth even more obnoxious leading to become a person, who doesn’t like anything easily, even if it genuinely is pleasant and good. Now that Anushka is back, the duo keep having several encounters and do not miss out on a reason to taunt each other.

In a parallel plotline, it is the amazing friendship between K.K. Reddy and Prabhakar that is the highlight of the show, where the former is the biggest businessman in Delhi and the latter, albeit his friend, is more like an employee in his company. But all the assumptions and problems which others have with this friendship doesn’t affect the duo, as their bond is as true as it can get.

With some more ‘jealous’ characters in the form of Anushka’s brothers, Kabir (Ankit Raj) and Srikant among others, the parallels plot runs smoothly with its own twists and turns.

Will Anushka and Siddhanth be able to be the way they were with each other once again? Or will ego and pride takeover the pure emotion of love? Only time will tell..

The Good

There are a lot of winners in this amazingly shot show. In an interview with Namit, the actor mentioned to me, how the show is shot on an Alexa camera, which is truly fabulous. Every frame of the show is beautiful and well-composed. The picturesque value isn’t too high here, but the tones and colours are majestic to say the least.

The several bonds shown in the show comprise to give us amongst the best moments. Be it the adorable father-daughter bond between Anushka and K.K., or mother-son bond of Siddhant and his mom, or the sibling bond between Anushka-Kabir and Siddhanth and his sister; the innocence, love, purity and simplicity showcased is an absolute winner, thus getting you emotionally attached to the show.

The love story is as real as it gets. There is a reason my headline reads that the show has the potential of the show achieving the heights of popularity and success that Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi experienced. Kuch Rang was beautiful owing to the realism and “relatable” factor and that is exactly what this love story also is. You can see there is love between two individuals, and you know there is going to be an amazing bond too, but just the way we tend to spoil our relationships owing to our ego, pride or misunderstandings, the show also depicts the same. There is no dreaminess or tragedy attached to the plot for making it look like an epic love saga. The story is simple, yet completely relatable.

The performances of actors, Manish Choudhari aka K.K. Reddy, Anuraag Arora aka Prabhakar and of course, the leads, Namit Khanna and Palak Jainn elevate the show’s runtime and there are barely any dull moments.

The Not-So-Good

While, there are a lot of good things, as you have read above, there are some major issues with the show too. Purely judging on the show’s 5 episode run so far, the first episode was actually one of the most boring premier episodes, I have ever seen. Cliched entry sequence of a hero, where he is legitimate talking to a spider in his wash-basin and flaunting his overconfident streak to the illogical running scene, where the male lead is a few metres away from the female lead and still thinks that, ‘yeh Anushka to nahi ho Sakti, Shayad Yeh mera vehem hai,’ are scenes that give you a reminder that some things on Indian television don’t change.

I was extremely happy with how I saw that the full family of the Reddys are so nice and warm with each other, inspite of being contrasting personalities and filthy rich people. But, it’s too good to be true, isn’t it? While, I don’t have problems of watching some jealousy or animosity between the characters in the Reddy family, the traits that they possess are pure cliche. The elder brother is a waste and finds himself embroiled in a drug case, the younger brother is envies Prabhakar and is a Casanova, but loves his sister immensely, the mother is a typical gossip queen and the sister-in-law (Srikant’s wife) poses to be amazing, but is very cunning. These are obvious traits that bring monotony in several scenes.

While, Namit and Palak certainly do a very good job as the leads, there is so much for them to work upon. Namit goes really dull and underwhelming in scenes where he is made to be arrogant and you only feel irked by that. He certainly has the charm of being the ultimate lover boy, but loses it in several frames, which he may need to improve at the soonest.

For her debut, Palak has done a phenomenal job as Anushka and especially the scene, where she stares at Siddhanth as he is showing her his house is one of her best scenes. But, when you share a scene with a fantastic actor like Manish Choudhari I can imagine how difficult it can become for one to stay composed. That happens with Palak, as she looks lost a lot of times and her emotions aren’t completely conveyed during her scenes with Manish. Courtesy Manish’s acting prowess, the overall impact of the show doesn’t get affected.

The Verdict

With a simple love story, which actually can be any normal person’s too, the depiction of Yeh Pyaar Nahi To Kya Hai is absolutely stunning. The heart of the plot is endearing and certainly has a lot of potential to be the next hit romantic drama, the channel would love to have.

Rating – *** (3/5)

Do you agree or disagree with the points? Leave in your comments below..