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Balaji Telefilms and Sony TV recently rolled out their latest show, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain – Naya Season. As the name suggests, it is the fourth season in the much-loved franchise and features new characters, a new story, and a new cast led by Harshad Chopda and Shivangi Joshi. It’s time for our report card! Let’s get straight into it.
We meet Bhagyashree Iyer, a successful business executive at a leading cosmetics brand. She resides in Delhi and handles the regional office. While she has found success in her career, there is a huge void in her personal life. Bhagyashree left her home five years ago to run away to Delhi with the man she thought loved her. She fought with her parents and left, only to realise the man was only interested in benefitting from her father’s wealth. Feeling too embarrassed and believing there was no way to patch things up with her family, Bhagyashree continued to live in Delhi and slowly built her life. She’s often the subject of gossip among her neighbours and society, who find it “odd” that she is still single and living alone.
Destiny starts to unfold a new chapter when we meet Rishabh, a charming and bubbly aspiring actor who believes in helping others and finding joy in the little moments. Rishabh ends up becoming Bhagyashree’s assistant. However, his responsibilities towards his Boss Ma’am end up being more than just office duties.
With the pressure of her parents visiting Delhi, Bhagyashree decides to make them believe she did find her happily-ever-after with the love of her life. With a matchmaker’s help, she gets set to wed Vikram, who ends up being exposed as a fraud with Rishabh’s help. As fate would have it, Rishabh ends up becoming Bhagyashree’s pretend husband in front of her now-arrived family.
Now that you’ve got the lowdown, let’s unpack the elements of the show. The story bears some resemblance to the Bade Achhe Lagte Hain franchise but also manages to carve its own path. A North-meets-South combination is always fun to watch, and it’s refreshing to see two protagonists who are unlike any other. Seeing Bhagyashree successfully handling her work and Rishabh being a simple man without any mansion or fancy cars is a welcome role reversal, and also realistic, given that we shouldn’t have moulds for genders to fit into anymore. The idea of the two starting off as a pretend couple is also interesting and something we’ve seen more often in Hollywood rom-coms. Watching an Indian execution of it is quite exciting too.
Performance-wise, it’s clear that both Shivangi Joshi and Harshad Chopda have been given what could become their most unique and heartfelt characters, and the two live up to it successfully. Shivangi Joshi rises to the occasion with this mature and multi-layered role. She pulls it off quite effortlessly, and her growth as an actor is evident and deserves applause. Harshad Chopda swoops back into action in the best way possible with Rishabh. A male protagonist like this is something I advocate for time and again, and I’m so glad we got it again! And Harshad? He makes Rishabh the lovable and delightful character he is. From the little quirks to the larger scenes, he handles it like the seasoned actor he is. Do not be surprised if this becomes known as his best performance to date… do not be surprised!
The rest of the cast is just as delightful to watch! Manoj Kolhatkar and Pyumori Mehta Ghosh provide an interesting dynamic as Bhagyashree’s parents. Despite the past circumstances between them and their daughter, the actors’ performances are able to bring out their deep love for her. Another interesting couple on the show is Bhagyashree’s friends Nitya and Naveen. Anchal Sabharwal and Nikhil Sharma are great to watch too, and we look forward to seeing how their characters unfold further. Divyangana Jain, who plays Bhagyashree’s sister-in-law Saumya, has been revealing her character’s grey shades in an interesting way so far. Yash Pandit, who plays Bhagyashree’s brother Kartik, is fantastic to watch too—leaving us curious about how his equation will develop with his sister and Rishabh.
Nitin Bhatia, aka Sunnylicious, delivers an honest performance, and we salute the makers for including a gay character in the show. Hopefully, this is a step forward for more LGBTQ+ representation on Indian television. After all, eventually, society has to accept it—and television can be a part of easing them into understanding people from this community. The entire cast is strong, and it’s only a matter of time before we see even more from them. I have to add, Bhagyashree’s dog Kaddu is way too adorable and shares quite the chemistry with Shivangi and Harshad too!
The show looks great visually, with many moments that feel like “absolute cinema,” as they say. For example, the scene where Bhagyashree is sitting in the rain and Rishabh comes and puts his umbrella over her. Even the casual moments land well, for instance, Rishabh’s entry at Bhagyashree’s cousin’s engagement, where he returns her fallen earring.
The show is fresh and balances drama and light-heartedness well so far. We sincerely hope that no third wheel comes between Bhagyashree and Rishabh’s love story, as audiences are tired and frustrated with this repeated trope. Bade Achhe Lagte Hain – Naya Season is a perfect opportunity to blend modern narratives while revisiting the charm and magic of love stories that Indian television was once known for.
With a subtle and beautiful opening, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain – Naya Season earns an 8/10!
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain – Naya Season airs on Sony Television across India, South Africa, the UK, and other regions. The show also streams globally on Sony LIV.
[Please Note: This review is exclusive to Urban Asian. Any re-purposing or re-use is not permitted]
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