Feels Like Ishq – Truly Modern Tales Of What May Become Love
The title of the anthology Feels Like Ishq is the biggest hint to what one can expect from these short films. They all explore that warm feeling that envelopes you when something, someone feels like love…it may not necessarily turn out to be so but it sure feels like it.
It explores that feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you start looking at someone as someone special. It doesn’t give you happy endings but just the inkling of them – a day in the life of if you may, allowing you the luxury of conjuring up your own tales about the characters which may well be you or me. That is the biggest strength of this well made series – the relatability factor.
Love (or the hint of it) doesn’t always happen in beautiful locations & romantic situations, it can strike anytime anywhere – from a protest site to an interview waiting room to maybe an airport lounge…who knows? “Love works in mysterious ways” is something all of us have heard but #FeelsLikeIshq imbibes it.
My favs were Interview, Save The Da(y)te & Quaranteen Crush. While Quaranteen Crush is all kinds of cute, it deals with the idea of consent in a very gentle, nonjudgmental way with a cast that does full justice to their role. I am definitely looking forward to more directorial ventures from debutante Tahira Kashyap!
Interview by Sachin Kandulkar is perhaps the best acted film of the lot with Zayn Marie & Neeraj Madhav doing absolute justice to the short but impactful film which has your heart aching & soaring in equal parts. A modern tale, this film is a non-preachy advocate of feminism which w/o even saying the word, has you thinking beyond what’s shown & applaud the take on a woman who decides not to wilt in guilt but take life in her stride without losing her innocence or gentle ways in the process. It’s also a subtle take on the day to day issues faced by immigrants, struggle to make a living and support one’s family & also on how much pressure that aim can put on you and this all is done in under 27 minutes!
Save The Da(y)te is what tied up this anthology for me not only because of the easy camaraderie between the lead pairs of Radhika Madan & Amol Parashar but also because this is the only film in the anthology which gives you a teaser of what ishq can really feel like some years down the line, especially a love based on mutual respect & affection. This Ruchir Arun direction gives the audience a hint of how these different couples may end up if they continue feeling the ishq. It’s the subtlety of this message that adds even more to it. Without spoilers, I must say that the beach scene has my heart.
The only issues with both Star Host & Ishq Mastana, in my opinion, was that unlike the other 4 films these tried to add too much to the mix and were unable to do justice to it perhaps because of time constraint. Also perhaps because they tried to spell out too much, unlike the other films. Rohit Saraf though is fast turning out to be India’s Noah Centineo – a dependable actor who can charm your socks off as well – and I for one have no complaints about it!
The ‘queer’ love story (She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not) steers away from the usual heaviness & cliches & treats it like any other romantic relationship, demanding that the viewer does so too. One thing I must note here about She Loves Me, She Loves Me No is the innovative way they have chosen to show technology in this film, be it social media or in-app helplines. What did dampen my spirits a bit was that when one of the characters is trying to change her fashion sense to impress her crush, all her examples are foreign models – a subtle comment on the lack of such representation in Indian fashion & pop culture.
These films are truly modern takes on love. They are feminist, liberal & democratic without saying the words. They are not only about romantic love but say much more about the kind society that is shaping up today.
Watch Feels Like Ishq to feel warm, loved, a lil nostalgic nostalgic & definitely more hopeful.
👩🏾💻 – Netflix India
Direction: Ruchir Arun (Save The Dayte), Tahira Kashyap Khurrana (Quaranteen Crush), Anand Tiwari (Star Host), Danish Aslam (She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not), Sachin Kandulkar (Interview) & Jaydeep Sarkar (Ishq Mastana)
Cast: Radhika Madan, Amol Parashar (Save The Dayte); Mihir Ahuja, Kajol Chugh (Quaranteen Crush); Rohit Saraf, Simran Jehani (Star Host); Saba Azad, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya (She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not); Zayn Marie Khan, Neeraj Madhav (Interview); Tanya Maniktala, Skand Thakur (Ishq Mastana)