On 20 November, a new young-adult rom-com show, Mismatched, dropped on Netflix India. A six-episode series starring YouTuber-turned-actor Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf, Mismatched is about a bunch of wannabe coders who enrol for a summer course in Jaipur. Their love stories, their silly teenage fights, their naive ambitions present a roller-coaster ride of emotions. The show's sometimes clever, sometimes cringe, but mostly cute and worth it.
1. Rohit Saraf. Two Words. That's It.
If you've watched The Sky Is Pink and/or more recently Ludo and couldn't get enough of Rohit Saraf, then Mismatched is exactly what you need. His character might be a little too old school but Saraf pulls it off phenomenally. He's cute and awkward and soft and charming...all of it in the same breath.
2. #NoMakeup
Gotta love a show that doesn't have actors whose faces are airbrushed with a gazillion layers of makeup. Mismatched is about a bunch of immature teenagers who still have really petty fights and fall in over carelessly. The best part is that they also kind of look the part..at least as far as the makeup department is concerned.
3. Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf's Age Gap
I know a 27-year-old (Prajakta Koli) trying to play a 18-year-old on screen makes it a little unbelievable but can we talk about how Prajakta (who plays the lead Dimple) is actually older than Rohit Saraf (who also plays the lead Rishi) in real life? A quick Google search tells me she's 27 and Saraf is 23. Very refreshing for an industry that is more likely to cast an older man opposite a younger woman.
4. Zeenat Karim Has All My Heart
Mismatched stars Vidya Malavade as Zeenat Karim, a widow trying to find herself in the aftermath of her husband's death. She enrols in a computer programming summer course with zero knowledge of how to code. Yet she's full of commitment, curiosity and an unwavering spirit. Being the only 40-something in a batch full of teenagers, she feels like an outsider from day one but that doesn't stop her!
5. Dimple & Rishi
Have to admit, addressing someone you're meeting for the first time as "future wife" is creepy AF but there's very little chance you won't end up rooting for Dimple and Rishi. They're both so adorably awkward, and they've definitely got chemistry.
6. The Class Divide
At the fictional Aravalli Institute of Technology, Dimple and Rishi are attending a summer coding course that costs INR 1.4 lakhs. So, in a way, it has a very Student of the Year vibe, but Mismatched doesn't ignore the privileges of its main characters. Even though all the students attending the course come from a background where they can afford to pay the hefty fee, there's still a very visible class divide among all of them. Mismatched gives us a glimpse of what it's like to go to a really fancy restaurant for dinner, because 'peer pressure', and feel that pinch when it's finally time to split the bill.
7. Inclusive Representation
Mismatched isn't the best-written show out there but as a rom-com YA style show that consists of six episodes only, it still does a pretty good job of being inclusive. There are LGBTQ+ characters (something I'm hoping they will explore more in the next season), there's a divorcee, there's also a paraplegic character who struggles to exist in a world that isn't made for his needs.
8. Mismatched is About Teenagers Being Teenagers
To put it simply, Mismatched is about how teenagers are just awful and confused most of the time. They have petty fights, they lie, they betray trust, and they say really mean things sometimes. At the same time, they're also kind to each other in unimaginable ways. It's beautiful and bittersweet in its own ways and Mismatched gets that perfectly, despite its flaws.
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