Indori Ishq Review: A promising watch that loses its track mid-way

3/5

What's it about:

Indori Ishq is a love story set in modern times. The story follows Kunal (Ritvik Sahore), who is madly in love with Tara (Vedika Bhandari) but she ends up breaking his heart. The series revolves around how Kunal deals with the situation at hand with the help of his friends.

What's hot:

Ritvik Sahore is refreshing as the latest Devdas in town. He brings depth to his character of Kunal and never falters in any scene as an actor. The same can be said for Aashay Kulkarni who plays his friend Mahesh in the show. Vedika Bhandari is fairly good as Tara and thus, you are almost never disappointed with the performance of the actors.

The series also pays tribute to many classics. Kunal and Mahesh take you back to the chemistry shared between Munna and Circuit from Munnabhai MBBS (the drives) and Ted and Barney from How I Met Your Mother (the bar scene). The latter is more relatable since Kunal's character has been developed closer to Ted and Mahesh's, closer to Barney.

For most of the series (seven episodes), Indori Ishq is an interesting watch and promises something unique, refreshing and yet nostalgic.

The show also opens up a discussion about sexual assault on men. It portrays how the law is partial towards women and how men are not supported in the face of a traumatic incident.

What's not:

Samit Kakkad has beautifully covered many topics like romance, friendship, action and drama in his one series and that is also the problem with Indori Ishq - it tries to focus on too many things and thus struggles to excel when it comes to the bigger picture. There is a bit of extra when it comes to every topic in the series.

Samit dedicated almost an entire episode showing a couple in love by making them kiss in public places. The story does not move forward for about 11 minutes and we see the same loop - of Kunal and Tara kissing and making love anywhere and everywhere.

The same applies to action. It is over-the-top which isn't as bad as the editing by Ashish Mhatre and Apurva Sahai. An action sequence featuring Kunal plays around with fast speed and slow motion, both of which are quite unnecessary and make the scene appear quite unnatural.

Although Samit manages to show friendship beautifully in the series, he seems to be a fan of using cuss words overtly. While some friends in the real-world do converse in that manner, there are a few scenes where it goes over-the-top and appears forced.

What hampers the show is that it loses the plot mid-way. The series goes downhill soon after Kunal gets back with Tara (after all the trouble). What follows after that meeting makes you question the entire series.

Prashant Rane's cinematography is considerably good for most of the parts, there is absolutely no logical explanation for his camera angle in Kunal's proposal scene. Otherwise, he manages to capture Indore and Mumbai so beautifully that it would take you back to memories of Dhadak.

What's that:

Right from the first scene, Samit Kakkad hints that sex is going to be an important part of the show. However, it is sad to see that he has shot and shown only intimate scenes for 11 minutes straight. Wasn't the series supposed to be about Kunal's life journey and the decisions he makes?

Verdict:

You can begin watching Indori Ishq but it would be better if you do not wait till the end since it is quite disappointing. However, talents like Ritvik Sahore, Aashay Kulkarni and Vedika Bhandari deserve to be lauded for their performance. Samit Kakkad, on the other hand, needs to have a tough talk with his editor or Kunal Marathe (responsible for the screenplay, also co-incidentally Ritvik's character name) for the chaotic end of the series.