“Nadaaniyan,” released on March 7, 2025, on Netflix, directed by debutante Shauna Gautam and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment, arrived as a high-profile launchpad for Ibrahim Ali Khan (son of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh) and Khushi Kapoor (daughter of Sridevi and Boney Kapoor). This romantic drama, also featuring Suniel Shetty, Mahima Chaudhry, Dia Mirza, and Jugal Hansraj, promised a Gen-Z twist on love with a fake-dating plot. Instead, it’s a colossal misfire, especially the glaring nepotism fueling its leads’ lackluster performances—make it a textbook case of Bollywood’s star-kid obsession gone wrong.

The story follows Pia Jaisingh (Kapoor), a spoiled South Delhi rich girl, who hires Arjun Mehta (Khan), a middle-class Noida overachiever, for ₹25K a week to pose as her boyfriend and impress her clique. Predictably, their transactional ruse turns real, complicated by her dysfunctional family—cheating dad Rajat (Shetty) and neglected mom Neelu (Chaudhry)—and his supportive parents (Mirza and Hansraj). It’s a tired trope straight out of Johar’s frothy playbook (Student of the Year, anyone?), but stripped of sparkle or stakes. The 132-minute runtime drags through a first half of shallow Instagram vibes—replete with “resort-type” school clichés—and a second half of contrived misunderstandings that fizzle into a bland resolution. The script by Ishita Moitra, Riva Razdan Kapoor, and Jehan Handa is a soulless rehash, lacking the wit or heart to make this rom-com click.

The nepotism angle is impossible to ignore, and it’s where “Nadaaniyan” collapses hardest. Ibrahim Ali Khan’s debut is a disaster—his Arjun is a charisma vacuum, delivering lines with monotone arrogance and zero screen presence. His abs-flashing “debate win” moment is peak absurdity, a cringe-worthy bid to mask his ineptitude. Khushi Kapoor, in her third outing after The Archies, fares marginally better but still flounders—her Pia is a nasal-toned stereotype, coasting on glamour rather than craft. The veterans—Shetty’s gravitas, Mirza’s warmth—offer flickers of competence, but they’re props in a film engineered to spotlight its unprepared leads.

Visually, Deepak Ravichandran’s cinematography is glossy but hollow, while Vivek-Dhruv’s score and songs like “Pagh Ghungroo Baandh” feel like placeholders—pretty noise for a plot going nowhere. Gautam’s direction lacks vision, juggling K-drama lite vibes with Johar’s meta gags but landing on a tone-deaf mess.

“Nadaaniyan” is a nepotism-fueled flop that exposes Bollywood’s creative rot. Ibrahim and Khushi, handed a silver platter, serve up a bland, unwatchable slog—proof that privilege can’t buy talent or a decent movie. It’s not just bad; it’s a sad relic of an industry that keeps betting on DNA over merit.

Rating: 1.5/5

A shallow, nepotistic snooze— “Nadaaniyan” is a favor to its stars, not its audience.