Directors Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadhikari dig deeper than the previous two instalments looking the dangers of the online personas that we create.
Mismatched Season 3 (Hindi), 13-12-2024, Romance, Comedy, Drama, 8 episodes, A, OTT
- Main Cast: Rohit Saraf, Prajakta Koli, Muskkaan Jaferi, Taaruk Raina, Laurena Robinson and Rannvijay Singha
- Director: Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadhikari
- Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
- Music Director: Jasleen Royal and Anurag Saikia
- Cinematography: Sudip Sengupta
- Rating: 3.5/5
For those who haven’t seen the first two seasons of Mismatched, the plot revolves around two diametrically different personalities.
Rohit Saraf’s Rishi is a young man with traditional notions of romance. Prajakta Koli’s Dimple is a tech-savvy girl with contrastingly different views on love and marriage. The series is based on the book titled When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Her perception regarding marriage has zero similarities with Rishi’s filmy ideas. The two have a disastrous first meeting but a summer program brings them together despite the contrasting personalities.
The first two seasons primarily explored the themes of love, coming of age and societal expectations. All this resonated well with the younger audiences making it a popular show.
What also made the first two seasons popular was its supporting cast led by Taaruk Raina and Muskkaan Jafferi.
Taaruk Raina’s character Ammol represents the struggles of disabled people in finding normalcy. To cover up his emotional vulnerabilities he behaves like a bully pretending to be a tough guy. Muskkaan Jafferi’s Celina on the other hand is also someone who pretends to be brave but has secrets of her own.
Synopsis
Coming to Mismatched Season 3 the plot shifts from Jaipur to Hyderabad. The beginning episodes focus on their long-distance relationship.
Rishi is doing very well in NNIT run by Nandini Nahata (Dipannita Sharma). Dimple on the other hand is grappling with a lack of self-confidence, the reason being she couldn’t secure a place for herself in NNIT.
Their long-distance relationship soon starts cracking leading to a major strain. Dimple eventually makes an important decision to join Siddarth, Nandini’s rival’s (Rannvijay Singha) new institute which is conveniently located right next to NNIT. This move of Dimple isn’t just about beginning her career afresh but it’s also about staying close to Rishi.
The rest of the story focuses on the complexities of career ambitions and relationships coupled with the evolving dynamics of a fresh batch.
Strong points
A strong aspect of Mismatched Season 3 is the exploration of digital paradox through a project called Betterverse. This Betterverse, also called metaverse is a virtual reality space where the users can live out all their wildest fantasies, has been created by Rishi and Co. The central conflict of Mismatched Season 3 is this digital utopia.
On paper, this project looks very exciting as the players can live out their hidden fantasies but as the story progresses the characters find difficulty in drawing a much-needed line between the real and the virtual world.
Directors Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadikiri have done a terrific job in exploring this theme. Many youngsters and also extremely tech-savvy people would definitely relate to this.
Among the flaws, the characterization of Dipannita Sharma’s Miss Nandini could have been done with more nuances. She is mostly seen shouting at the top of her voice. This gets jarring after a point.
Also, the students aren’t seen attending much of theory and practical classes, also the atmosphere of the college often comes across as more of a corporate world than a tech college.
Strong characterisation
Mismatched Season 3 deals with the new challenges faced by Dimple and Rishi. Before starting this project Betterverse Rishi was introspective and slightly insecure but post becoming the leader his personality undergoes a significant change.
He somewhat drifts away from his original persona leading to some cracks in the relationship with Dimple. He finds a lot of success in Betterverse but this success comes with a certain cost too.
Dimple on the other hand is facing the dual pressure of wanting to carve a space for herself in the world of coding and technology and having a solid love life. The colliding worlds of real and virtual have been wonderfully written and enacted.
The complexities here go beyond navigating romantic feelings; they also involve figuring out your true self and staying true to it. This is a difficult task, given the challenges of the digital age. All of this has been presented in a raw and unfiltered manner, without beating around the bush or trying to sugarcoat it.
Supporting characters
What also adds to the impact of the third season are its supporting characters both the older ones and the fresh entrants. A particular mention must be made of the track involving Lauren Robinson’s Rith.
Rith is assigned female at birth and wants to transition and come out of the closet. The romantic track between Rith and Muskkann Jaferi is wonderful to watch. Through the track of Rith, the directors have touched upon the difficulties faced by the transgender community in embracing their real identity.
Talking about the older characters both Muskkann and Taaruk Raina successfully take off from the previous ones providing solid support to Rohit Saraf and Prajakta Koli.
Performances
Talking about the leads, both Rohit Saraf and Prajakta are in wonderful form perfectly imbibing the fresh nuances. The chemistry between them in both the light and emotional scenes is a delight to watch.
The self-discovery of Muskkann’s character runs parallel to that of Dimple and the actress does a fantastic job in showcasing the different nuances. Taaruk Raina is also equally good bringing in both humour and solid emotions.
Special mention must also be made of Laurena Robinson. Laurena is first-rate in portraying the identity struggle of Rith.
The music much like the first two seasons plays an important role in enhancing the story. Tracks like “Ishq Hai”, “Do Din Ke Bad” and “Pyaar Hai” perfectly capture the joys and the internal struggles faced by the characters at different junctures.
Final take
Keeping aside these niggles Mismatched Season 3 streaming on Netflix makes for a good watch, particularly for those who like soothing love stories with a dash of technology.
(Views expressed here are personal, edited by Sumavarsha)
