Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan Movie Review

Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan Movie Review

Language: Hindi

Director: Arjun Varain Singh

Cast: Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Adarsh Gourav, Kalki Koechlin, Rohan Gurbaxan

The Internet was once used to bring about revolution. But not anymore. Even your relationship with your partner looks like a paid partnership. Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan has a clear message which tells us that like drug addiction we are hiding behind social media.

We are so busy looking at the screen, that we have stopped looking at ourselves. We are hiding behind social media with our candy floss images to show our happy lives in the process of avoiding harsh reality.  Now a person’s worth as a professional is decided by the number of followers he/she has. It has been noticed that even in the field of journalism or advertising, there is an obsession with employees having more followers no matter how shallow he/she is. From personal point of view, the movie makes us realise that the more we becomes slaves of social media, the lonelier we are going to get. It is high time we stop looking for validation from social media.

Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is a socially relevant film which will make you think. No specific characters, but you can relate to all whether it is the role played by Ahana Singh (Ananya Pandey), Imaad Ali (Siddhant Chaturvedi) or Neil Pereira (Adarsh Gourav). The movie is about three friends who live together in an apartment in Mumbai. They are actually school friends with different lives – Ananya Pandey is a MBA, Siddhant Chaturvedi plays the role of a standup comedian and Adarsh Gourav is a gym instructor in the film. They are close to each other, but everybody has their own battles to fight and they are looking for validation on social media and not valuing what they actually have around them, real friends and family. Kalki Koechlin‘s presence makes the film refreshing. And it is her presence which adds more depth to the story.

A brilliantly crafted film that teaches us to reboot, to keep our phones down and to look up and look into the eye of real life. Because life is about living without filters and lenses. It is time to take it easy and keep it real. To be happy, you really don’t need much. When you are close to reality, people will be able to come near you. It is time to stop the comparison game and stop aping others. No one is like you don’t need to be like anyone else. We all are unique in our own way. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan makes you value yourself and your real friends. The performances of each of the actors is real and relatable and that is the best part of it. Most importantly, the script is crisp and the performances are effortlessly natural.

Not giving out any spoilers, the movie touches upon child abuse too and the fact that it can happen to baby boys and how it can scar their entire life. In one of the scenes in the film, it shows how our world has become so fake. When we were in school we used to say, my father is a CEO of a multinational company. But now what will our kids say when the same question is asked to them? They will say “My father/ mother is an influencer joh naach naach ke saboon bach tah hai” (My father/ mother is an influencer who dances and sells soaps and other products.)

The film without getting preachy teaches us that it is time to say thank you loudly and clearly to real friends and family, not followers who most of the time are faceless and fake. Value what you have and value you. And most importantly find your tribe. Who needs followers when you have real friends?

Rating: 4 out of 5