‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ On Netflix Movie Review: Adarsh Gourav, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Poignant Take On Urban Loneliness

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ has been making the news ever since the film was announced. While it’s come up on Netflix, the film is indeed one of the most talked about in this week of the new year. Starring Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Adarsh Gourav, the film talks about some poignant topics while keeping it a story about 3 friends in the city of Mumbai. Here’s all that you need to know about the film.

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’: Story

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ revolves around the lives of 3 best friends Imaad (Siddhant Chaturvedi), Ahana (Ananya Panday) and Neil (Adarsh Gourav). The three of them have been together since boarding school, and manage to find time out for each other despite living in one of the busiest cities of the world. However, they all have their own issues with loneliness and not being able to fit into the social media crazy world. The story goes on to explore their levels of insecurity, whether it’s related to their life goals, relationships, love life, emotional turmoil and lots more.

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’: Performances

Adarsh Gourav steals the cake with his performance. Not only has he worked his ass off and gotten a physique like a gym trainer, but he has also managed to leave no stone unturned to showcase his emotional bent. The way his character starts falling for the show-sha of the rich people, and the fights that he gets into with his father over the same – all of them feel so real and hit you so hard. Among the 3 leads, it is his emotional range of performance that you will love the most.

Ananya Panday is slowly and steadily starting to shed off the Starkid and nepotism debates from her repertoire with performances like these. While the story is still set in a big city and she is still playing the good-looking girl who’s always too hard to get, but she also balances it with some real emotions and feelings which young adults in big cities have to deal with on a daily basis. Her performance gives a reality check to people from smaller towns about the issues of a big city girl.

Siddhant Chaturvedi manages to put his good looks to perfect use. He plays a character who enjoys attention always and lives for it. But the way he balances that act with the subtlety of the emotions in the second half of the film makes his character more likeable. He doesn’t shy away from weeping his feelings out and doesn’t stop himself from admitting that he has a psychological problem in his being. Many young actors wouldn’t want to pick up such a character.

Kalki Koechlin has a small character, but a very relatable one. Her emotional bent feels so real and so perfect for the character. The elder woman’s character who has so much more invested in a relationship is showcased by Kalki Koechlin with terrific intricacy.

Anya Singh is the surprise package. You know her character in and out as you’ve met girls like her or seen them in other films. You know what she is doing is probably right for her life and career, but you also sympathise with Adarsh Gourav’s character and start blaming her as the bad girl. Anya Singh manages to get that grey character brilliantly. Her performance is so perfect that she is able to elicit that emotion of anger or hatred from you as a viewer. That’s brilliant.

Vijay Maurya has been completely wasted in a role that’s too small for his stature. That character could have been done by just about any junior artiste, and therefore it feels bad to see that Vijay Maurya couldn’t infuse his brilliance into this character.

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects

The writing by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti on the story by Arjun Varain Singh and the dialogues by Yash Sahai is pretty much the best part of ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’. The truth about today’s social media savvy world hits hard when you realise how close to reality are some of the situations. You feel that this scene or that scene has happened to you in your life. Getting that closeness to reality is brilliant. Whenever small-towners think of a big urban city, they always assume that life would be a hundred times better, but the thing is that big-city people have their own issues. Urbanites suffer from urban loneliness, which is so big in cities like Mumbai that you’re constantly made to feel that in every scene of the ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’.

Arjun Varain Singh manages to hold his own with a topic as complex as urban loneliness. He has managed to show the harsh realities from such close quarters that you’re left feeling like he has shown some pages from your own life. Also showing the story from the angle of the three youngsters makes the connection come out even better. The coming-of-age factor feels much more real as it’s not told by a parent or an elder, and it’s told through the eyes of three youngsters. Arjun Varain Singh has kept the narrative very factual and realistic.

The cinematography by Tanay Satam and Prasad Chaurasia is another highlight of the film. The way they’ve showcased the scenes from close quarters makes the feeling even more tangible. Showing the lanes and bylanes of Mumbai not from the perspective of the rich but from the perspective of the upper middle class is something that makes the story feel alive.

Nitin Baid’s editing is probably the only thing that’s not too up to the mark. There are scenes where the lighting may have been less to get the perfect tone for the scene, but those could have been given a bit more brightness on the edit table. Also, the film could have been pruned a bit here and there to remove some of the unnecessary dragging scenes, which could have brought down the run time to under 2 hours.

The music of the film by OAFF–Savera, Ankur Tewari, Sachin-Jigar, Achint, Karan Kanchan, and Rashmeet Kaur is another high point of the film. Some of the songs are really good and stick to you. ‘Baahon Mein Teri’, ‘Teri Yeh Baatein’, and ‘Hone Do Jo Hota Hai’ can easily find a place in your playlists. Even Sid Shirodkar’s background score is decent and makes you feel as if you’re the one sitting on the couch and listening to the 3 friends discuss their issues.

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’: Cast & Crew

Director: Arjun Varain Singh

Cast: Ananya Panday, Adarsh Gourav, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Anya Singh, Rohan Gurbaxani, Zabi Shaikh, Sanat Sawant, Narendra Jetley, Vijay Maurya

Available On: Netflix

Duration: 2 Hours 15 Minutes

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’: Can Kids Watch It?

Yes

Outlook’s Verdict

‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ hits where it hurts the most. It’s so close to reality that you’re constantly shuffling between the three characters keeping yourself in their shoes. Most of their issues and problems, you end up feeling as if that has happened to you at some point in your adult life. The relatability of the storyline is what’s the best part of the film. Also, the poignant topic of today’s young adults – urban loneliness, is also expressed quite evidently and talked about really well. Where the film fails is to give any possible solutions to cope with this social media-driven world. Overall, it’s a Breezy One Time Watch. I am going with 3.5 stars.