‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ Movie Review: R Madhavan and Fatima’s Sweet Age-Gap Romance Turns Preachy and Pretentious (LatestLY Exclusive)

Aap Jaisa Koi Movie Review: Forgive my Nadaaniyan for feeling apprehensive whenever Karan Johar's Dharma Productions drops a new movie straight to Netflix. Experience is quite the b*tch, you know. Still, I tried to ignore its loud barks for Aap Jaisa Koi, the latest Dharma outing on OTT. The trailer teased a sweet romantic drama featuring two likeable leads - R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh - playing characters who embrace their age difference. The songs that followed were pleasant, and I genuinely hoped that Karan Johar's production house would finally crack the code for a winsome, well-rounded film. ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’: R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh Star in Netflix’s Heartwarming Love Story (Watch Video).

But, like experience, hope too can be a b*tch. Aap Jaisa Koi kicks off promisingly, then throws in a strange sex-chat plot twist I absolutely didn’t expect. The film settles briefly into a comfortable, mature romance - one that I actually started to enjoy - before it careens into melodrama and ends with its characters sermonising each other (and us) in a clunky, forced attempt to be 'feminist'. Unfortunately, this does little to actually further the cause.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - The Plot

The film centres on Shrirenu (R Madhavan), a 42-year-old bachelor struggling to find a bride. We're given multiple reasons for this: he’s a Sanskrit teacher (?), his social skills are awkward, some women dislike his name, and, bizarrely, a girl supposedly cursed him back in his teenage years for rejecting his proposal. The film never revisits that subplot.

On his friend's advice, Shrirenu signs up for a sex-chat app called Aap Jaisa Koi, hoping the anonymity will help him talk freely to women. (Why he never tried this in the days of Yahoo Messenger is a valid question.) In classic Shrirenu fashion, he gives away his real name in the first chat. But instead of being scammed, he stumbles into a string of sensual conversations that he begins to enjoy.

Watch the Trailer of 'Aap Jaisa Koi':

Before he gets too deep into sexting territory, his family presents a new marriage proposal: a woman from Kolkata, clearly a decade (or more) younger than him. Enter Madhu Bose (Fatima Sana Shaikh), a spirited French teacher who, for some reason, takes a liking to this awkward man. Their romance blossoms over Kishore Kumar movies and chai dates, culminating in an engagement, also helped that her name is similar to his fave actress, Madhubala. But just as you're warming up to the film, a shocking revelation from Madhu sends things spiralling.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - Culture Clashes, Dharma Style

Directed by Vivek Soni (of Meenakshi Sundareshwar fame), Aap Jaisa Koi thankfully tones down some of the stereotypical regional tropes that plagued his earlier work. Still, they're not entirely absent. Madhu’s Bengali family is painted as 'progressive', How, you ask? Women are shown drinking, their men follow them around, and yes, Saraswati Puja is a regular event.

In contrast, the Tripathi household (Shrirenu’s family) is a nest of misogyny, filled with men who belittle their wives and mock career-oriented daughters. This North vs East culture clash feels like a lite version of Karan Johar's own Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - Sweet Chemistry... Initially

The film starts well enough, setting up Shrirenu’s bride-hunting woes while you wonder if living with an equally lonely roommate at 42 is part of the problem. The introduction of the sex-chat app feels odd at first, mostly because it's jarring in tone and surprisingly late in Shrirenu’s life to be discovering such things.

But once Madhu enters, the tone softens further. Their contrasting personalities - she’s a carefree French instructor, he’s a timid Sanskrit teacher - help their romance glide along smoothly for a while. She isn’t a virgin, he still is (but doesn’t tell her). Their chemistry feels real, the golden-tinted visuals and quaint settings lend charm, and their meet-cutes are endearing.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - Cracks Show Up

Still, beneath all this sweetness is a troubling undertone: Shrirenu's 'niceness' hides some serious red flags.

The cracks begin to show on the male lead early on when Shrirenu suspects that Madhu’s interest might be a prank. Instead of confronting her, he travels to Kolkata with the student he suspects of orchestrating the prank to investigate his would-be bride. Why is this man still employed as a teacher?

All is well and good - until the engagement happens, and Madhu drops a bombshell on Shrirenu, one we probably should have seen coming. From that moment onward, this love story - and, with it, the entire film - takes a nosedive. Unsurprisingly, Shrirenu reacts with anger and aloofness, but this shift in his demeanour doesn’t feel organic. Instead, he starts behaving like a petulant man-child, making you question why any woman would want him as a life partner. Meenakshi Sundareshwar Movie Review: Sanya Malhotra-Abhimanyu Dassani’s Cute Romance Struggles Against Annoying Tamil Cliches and Dumb Plot Conflicts!

Later in the movie, he tells Madhu a revealing line: he once considered himself a liberal but couldn’t shake off years of upbringing when it truly mattered. It’s an interesting idea - but one that exists solely for that single dialogue. For starters, there’s no prior indication that Shrirenu was ever 'liberal' before the engagement scene. Secondly, while his shock at the revelation is understandable (it’s something she should have disclosed earlier), the hypocrisy and sexism he displays don’t feel true to his character. Instead, it seems as though he’s forced to overact simply because the plot demands it.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - Papa, Don't Preach!

From this point, the film (screenplay by Radhika Anand and Jehan Handa) becomes a series of staged confrontations designed to trigger monologues. Think of the 'freedom' scene from Dil Dhadakne Do - only stretched across 45 minutes and far less gracefully executed.

The restaurant scene, where Shrirenu intrudes on Madhu’s date with an ex (Karan Wahi, brought in to add some forced tension), is a prime example of the film’s heavy-handed messaging. The problematic remarks Shrirenu casually drops feel less like natural dialogue and more like a contrived setup, solely so Madhu can lecture him (and, by extension, the misogynists in the audience).

Similarly, the subplot involving the marital breakdown between Shrirenu’s sexist elder brother (Manish Chaudhary, getting typecast in such roles) and his wife (the ever-lovely Ayesha Raza) becomes yet another vehicle for the film’s sermonising. Shrirenu gets lectured by his niece; he later lectures his MCP friend, and so on. It’s frustrating that Aap Jaisa Koi ignores the classic ‘show, don’t tell’ rule, especially when films like Mrs (a remake of The Great Indian Kitchen) handle similar themes with far more nuance.

For a film that claims feminist ideals, we get frustratingly little insight into Madhu’s perspective. Why is she on a sex-chat app, particularly after breaking up with a man for being a "sexist pig"? What kind of men did she expect to find there? Apart from the restaurant confrontation, she mostly mopes around, gazing wistfully at Shrirenu whenever he shows marginal improvement -instead of, say, keeping her distance. The character deserved better. The brilliant Fatima Sana Shaikh definitely deserved better.

'Aap Jaisa Koi' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Aap Jaisa Koi begins as a refreshing take on love across the age divide, buoyed by sincere performances and some sweet moments. But just as it starts to grow into something meaningful, it derails into a preachy mess that neither earns its feminist messaging nor allows its characters to grow naturally. Aap Jaisa Koi is streaming on Netflix.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2025 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).