Let’s talk about the good things first. Seldom have we seen the pain of being rejected from one’s college/university of choice portrayed in an OTT platform. Barring that painful shot of Sandeep Bhaiya from TVF’s ‘Aspirants’, the emotional devastation of seeing one’s friends go ahead with their college studies—while you are back home, trying to survive a gap year—hasn’t found its way to mainstream shows. To that extent, the third season of Mismatched shows Dimple Ahuja (played by a convincing Prajakta Koli) struggle to make sense of her NNIT (Nandini Nahata Institute of Technology) rejection.
Mismatched Season 3: Plot
This, as her long-distance boyfriend Rishi (played by Rohit Saraf, in crisp, formal attire) juggles the workload of building a metaverse with his boyfriend duties. Nandini along with a dedicated team of tech experts and Krish (Abhinav Sharma), is building Betterverse, a metaverse which allows users to explore its many worlds with a Virtual Reality headset. Aiding Nandini and Rishi in this mammoth task is Anmol (Taaruk Raina), whose relationship with Vinny (Ahsaas Channa) hits a rough patch.
Meanwhile, Celina (Musskkan Jaferi) befriends Rith, a trans student struggling with body dysmorphia. In order to truly explore their trans identity, Rith aims to enter Betterverse. For this reason, they seek admission in LLIT (Lady Lovelace Institute of Technology), established by Sid (Rannvijay Singha). In many ways, Nandini and Sid have polar opposite approaches towards education. While Nandini plays by the rulebook and is more strict with deliverables, Sid allows his students room to make errors.
Mismatched Season 3: Performances
In the midst of their long-distance romance in Betterverse, Dimple decides to shift base to Hyderabad as Sid takes her under his wing. In the meanwhile, Ruth, Celina and Krish are caught in a love triangle where Krish catches feelings for Celina, allowing his ‘Dil’ to mess with a situation which is mostly ‘Chill’. Sid and Nandini but heads with each other, as Zeenat (Vidya Malvade) tries to convince Sid to adopt a baby. Meanwhile, Anmol wears a haptic suit and enters the metaverse to experience how it feels to be able-bodied.
What I liked about the third season of Mismatched is how sensitively it explores the theme of disability. In the episode “Beginning, Middle and….”, a security personnel tells Anmol: “We have a ramp at the back for people like you”. To this, Anmol responds “My apologies. I should have worn my ‘Disabled Lives Matter’ t-shirt”. Krish’s change-of-heart and the beginning of a new friendship with Anmol is endearing to watch. Arguably, Abhinav Sharma’s redemption arc is the most satisfying in the show. Celina and Rith’s relationship might just give you butterflies in your stomach. The queer couple’s romance will remind of the feel-good ‘Heartstopper’ on Netflix.
Mismatched Season 3: Writing And Direction
As for Rith, I wasn’t sure if their motivation to hack into the metaverse (that is, to see themselves as a gender they conform to) was strong enough to travel all the way from Gujarat to Hyderabad. Needless to say, the exploration of trans identity could have been more nuanced but I am not complaining. Writer Gazal Dhailwal does a good job at weaving all the story arcs around the metaverse, which lies at the heart of this season.
The showrunners have done a commendable job giving backstories to all the characters. In one scene, Anmol tells his girlfriend Vinny that he feels like a ‘defective piece’ and that he wasn’t sure if she is dating him as an act of ‘charity’. The many challenges faced by the disabled to find intimacy in their relationships are portrayed to stirring effect. We know what makes Krish act the way he does (childhood trauma, overly-critical parents). We know what made Anmol lose his cool on Vinny (internalized ableism). The show is worth watching not just for its central characters (Dimple and Rishi) but also for the depth of its many characters.
Mismatched Season 3: What Works, What Doesn’t
Tragedy strikes when Dimple learns of her father’s demise. As an aftermath of the event, Dimple and Rishi decide to get engaged, only for Dimple to realize later that the decision stemmed out of grief. A dejected Dimple tells Rishi at Marine Drive: “Sab kuch itna jaldi ho gaya”. The demise of a parent is considered reason enough for kids to marry early. Mismatched shows the burden of living up to this expectation with quite finesse.
What doesn’t work for the show as much, is that its college campuses look less like universities, more like IT parks. Pray, why is there a sudden corporatization of colleges? Why are college students at NNIT expected to don formals and work on projects as if they are in the corporate world? Why aren’t Anmol, Rishi and Krish attending theory and practical classes like, you know, every engineering student ever? Instead of teaching her students, Nandini believes in yelling at them from the top floor as if she is their boss.
Full marks to the show, however, for showing just how expensive private education is. Even more expensive is participation in coding events (the participation fees for a Techathon is Rs 2.5 lakhs). As for this critic, I was relieved that I graduated long back and that Rishi and DImple are no longer fiances. It will be interesting to see which route the showrunners take with our favourite “will they, won’t they” couple.
Star rating: 3 / 5 stars
All episodes of Mismatched Season 3 are now streaming on Netflix.
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