Director: Arif Khan
Platform: ZEE5
Rating: ****
Based on Sumrit Shahi's bestselling novel by the same name, Zee5's latest offering 'Never Kiss Your Best Friend' has finally hit the digital shelves and here we are once again like always to see if this one is worth your time or not. Let's begin folks!
Arif Khan's 'Never Kiss Your Best Friend' narrates the story of Sumer Singh Dhillon (Nakuul Mehta) and his best friend Tanie Brar (Anya Singh) and a kiss that changes their friendship forever. Never Kiss Your Best Friend is the answer to the question that has been asked innumerable times to us, can a girl and a boy be best friends? or can your lover be your best friend? and it answers that beautifully.
Tanie and Sumar first see each other at Tanie's house as neighbors and soon, they go to study at the same college and become best friends. Sumer is more of a casanova and Tanie is his total opposite who is old-school who has decided she won't have sex until she gets married and by the way, she has a boyfriend.
Sumer aspires to be a filmmaker one day and he is working hard for it but his parents want him to do MBA and go for safe corporate job and all this personal and professional pressure combined pushes Sumer into the world of drugs and Tanie's departure at this time from his life is the bad cherry on top What happens in their story when they finally meet after 5 years is the crux this dramedy.
First of all, on the performance front, Nakuul Mehta has delivered an amazing performance as Sumer. He is charming on-screen and just his presence is enough to light it up. He presents Sumer's ups and downs, his strong and weak moments with heft and convincingly so, although his character will remind you of Ranbir Kapoor at times from 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'. His character's evolution throughout the series is commendable and the credit for that goes to the engaging writing and screenplay.
Anya Singh as Tanie Brar in her digital debut series with is pleasingly adorable and looks flawless on screen. Her character is definitely going to remind of someone from your college and the more relatable it feels the more entertaining it gets. Her and Nakul's chemistry is the best part here which is cute, fun and innocent and you never get tired of watching these two together.
Vivek Mushran, Rituraj Singh and Niki Aneja make up for a great supporting cast who did the best with whatever they got here. The cinematography is pleasingly beautiful and the mesmeric view of the city of London adds up to the picturesque beauty screen. The music is good too and provides the intensity to the on-screen drama and romance.
All in all, Never Kiss Your Best Friend is something that makes you feel like its your own story, especially if you also ever had a best friend of the opposite gender. It reminds us of so many films 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' but it has an essence of its own that makes it stand out. It is a roller - coaster ride full of friendship, emotions, drama, and love that is going to remind you of your college days. Binge-watch it already.