Rating: 2.5/5
Netflix’s Mismatched lays surplus emphasis on its performers, most of them being influencers but misses to actually lay emphasis on the story.
Story
Based in Jaipur, Mismatched is a chirpy, romantic story of two teenagers, Rishi and Dimple, whose ambitions and priorities lie very far from each other.
They join the Aravalli Institute in Jaipur for different reasons yet end up falling for each other and fight those feelings at the same time.
Mismatched has the world of app development, coding and UI as its backdrop. While Dimple always finds her fit in this world, Rishi involuntary ends up there to impress her.
Both these characters are joined by an array of friends in this journey of navigating life.
Performances
Prajakta Koli as Dimple resonates a lot to her social media presence in real life. Rohit Saraf as Rishi is charming and both of them portray good chemistry on screen.
Mismatched is helmed by many characters who do not always stay relevant. They exist to make viewers look at the show from a broader perspective.
The web-series tries to promote acceptance for many ideas like homosexuality, body confidence, financial divide and how that holds importance for students. All these narratives hardly come alive through Rishi and Dimple. The supporting cast is responsible for this.
Rannvijay Singha plays Prof Siddharth, who is apparently the only teacher in this course. His performance might remind you of your actual professors who found pleasure in rejecting your projects.
Positives
Mismatched does have a relatable element which reminds you of college life. The sequences of lectures in classrooms is specially one such point.
The romance quotient is nicely brought out by the protagonists and what makes it unique is the role app-making and coding play in it.
Negatives
In a long list of web series that could have been films, Mismatched is the latest addition. It takes way too much time to say things and with no added impact in storytelling.
There are irresponsible stereotypes like Zeenat Karim’s character who is made to speak in Urdu and dress up in khadi wear every time she is on screen, so that by any chance people don’t miss out on her religion.
Like many teenage rom-coms, Mismatched also has privileged upper class people as protagonists. One character is specially shown as financially unstable but her struggles don’t unfold.
Worth It?
Mismatched is a one-time watch at best. The soundtrack and college based plot could be a good reason to stream it once on Netflix.
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