Mismatched is a web series that was extremely hyped even before its release, thanks to the popularity of its main leads Prajakta Koli, the Youtube sensation, and the internet crush, Rohit Saraf. The show begins with Prajakta’s 17-year-old Dimple, an ambitious girl wanting to kick start her career by enrolling in an app development course and developing a million-dollar app.  The pushback however is her orthodox mother who is a perfect prototype of how mothers should not be. She wants her daughter to meet boys to find her ideal match, mind you Dimple is just 17. 

On the other hand, we have Rishi, the sweet and simple boy, a lover of all things “old school” looking to find his partner he can get to know well before getting into a marriage. Rishi is so serious about finding his  ‘future wife’, that he joins the same computer course to meet Dimple, who he learns about through a matrimonial Whatsapp group. 

We see Dimple and Rishi’s first interaction in an extremely weird scene in the first episode. Thereon, their friendship builds on long walks, discussing app ideas and coding sessions. The show progresses with all of the cute butterfly moments, break-ups, hookups, and bullying that are standard in a college drama series. An effort has been made to include every variety of college students in a group of the 6-7 being portrayed,  a bully whose only business is to take his classmates’ case, a naive boy trying to find his space amongst others, the jazzy extrovert, and an Instagram influencer clicking selfies and uploading stories all day.

The show has been made with the purpose of pleasing the youth but the screenplay doesn’t seem authentic. The writers have tried hard to empathize with the subject of a youth drama but they do not fully succeed. It often feels as if a parent is trying to talk the language of their 18-year-old child. The show has also made sincere attempts to give each character a backstory to hold on to. However, it doesn’t explore them completely, except the ones of the two main leads. 

The one thing which stood out was the acting performances. Be it the straightforward Dimple played by Prajakta Koli, the endearing Rishi of Rohit Saraf, the 41-year old Zeenat by Vidya Malvade trying to start her life afresh, Ranvijay Singha as the cool and cocky professor, the gamer bully Anmol of Taruk Raina and the sturdy chick Celina played by Muskkaan Jaaferi - all of them are very well casted. 

The journey which laid its foundation on making the best app and winning an amazing internship opportunity ends with a gaming challenge instead. The climax is a bit all over the place, both for the characters in the show as well as the viewer. And the show ends on a rather fragile cliffhanger that probably might not be able to attract as much audience as it did for the first season.

Rating: 2.5/5

Episode 1 Recap: When Dimple Met Rishi