Ishq Vishk Rebound's Love Narratives: Recognizing Tokenism in Bollywood

Ishq Vishk Rebound's Love Narratives: Recognizing Tokenism in Bollywood

The latest romantic release 'Ishq Vishk Rebound', delves into the complexities of modern relationships and the blurred lines between love, friendship, and heartbreak. Co-written by Vaishali Naik, Vinay Chhawal, and Ketan Pedgaonkar, the film navigates the confusion surrounding love in today's society. Following the story of childhood friends Raghav, Sanya, and Sahir, played by Rohit Saraf, Pashmina Roshan, and Jibraan Khan respectively, 'Rebound' explores the dynamics of their intertwined relationships. As Sanya and Sahir's tumultuous romance affects Raghav and Riya, played by Naila Grewal, the friends find themselves entangled in a rebound romance that threatens to jeopardize their bond. Can their 'ishq vishk' fling survive the test of time, or will it ultimately tear them apart?

The Premise of the Film

In the film, a character named Raghav is scouted to become a screenwriter in Bollywood because of his extraordinary writing abilities. He finds it difficult to write his scripts because of his boss's pressure and deadlines. His writing is inspired by a love triangle in his own life, which is the central theme of the story. Believing his parents are happily married, Raghav indulges his penchant for drama by getting embroiled in the stormy romance of his childhood best friends. The relationship between Sahir and Sanya is complicated by their unresolved issues with their fathers.

Because of their fathers' influence, Sanya and Sahir both give up on their dreams, which makes their relationship unsustainable. They struggle to establish a solid foundation for their relationship despite splitting up and getting back together several times throughout the movie. They also sport a shirt that hilariously expresses how much they love graphic design. A romantic quadrangle is depicted in the movie as Raghav grows to love Riya. She is presented as someone who is very concerned about the environment and is against Raghav's close friendships with his pals. In the movie, Riya is portrayed as the most perceptive character. The complicated relationship between Raghav and Sanya causes chaos in the movie, including a near-dog theft, a brief existential crisis for Raghav in the forest, and a disastrous Halloween party that Sanya throws.

Performances in the film

The movie's protagonist, Rohit Saraf tries his best and does a good job of effortlessly carrying the weight of the narrative. His captivating on-screen persona and amazing dancing abilities make him an attraction. On the other hand, despite having a lot of screen time, Pashmina Roshan doesn't bring anything fresh to her role. Her performance might be overshadowed by the attention to styling, as she is frequently portrayed in revealing couture. Although the debut act needs more refinement, it showed promise. Reminiscent of his K3G performance, Jibraan Khan impressed with his physique and acting abilities. With a strong character arc and an air of maturity and composure about her, Nailla, an exceptional actor, was sadly underutilized in the movie.

The lack of emotional depth is inadvertently justified under the Genz lingo

The main problem with the film is not that it makes Rebound seem "frivolous." It makes a half-hearted attempt or resorts to token politics to entertain. Eventually, it becomes glaringly obvious that the love stories in the film are so poor because they are meant to represent the way "GenZ" handles relationships. But that doesn't explain why the film lacks basic emotional intelligence. It's an outsider's perspective on an entire generation; that should explain a lot. We can almost expect someone to say, "Yeah, Gen Z doesn't have language, but we all do." The dialogues in the film fail to incorporate Gen Z slang, leaving viewers wondering why no one mentions the clear signs of a "situationship" throughout the movie. Sticking to the same old clichés and dialogue, the story lacks depth and falls short in its attempt to examine the complexities and uncertainties of contemporary relationships. In today's fast-paced world, a more in-depth examination of Sanya's abrupt transformation from Sahir to Raghav would have been more satisfying.

Discounting Narcissism under the name of trauma

Despite growing up as childhood sweethearts, Sanya and Sahir have always been connected through their shared experiences of trauma. Sanya, who often avoids dealing with her issues due to her parent's divorce, finds solace in a heart-to-heart conversation with her mother, Supriya Pilgaonkar, over a glass of dark rum under the moonlight after a breakup. On the other hand, Sahir succumbs to the expectations of his ex-military father to excel at cadet camp and sacrifices his relationship in the process. While he eventually stands up to his father, the emotional depth of the scene falls short. Meanwhile, Raghav, who grew up witnessing his parents' playful and loving relationship, only realizes later in life that it was a form of therapy for them. The narrative fails to address serious issues, focusing instead on frivolous aspects.

In one scene, the remarkable Sheeba Chadha is shown teaching the unsuspecting Raghav—who is also a writer—about "couple therapy." As viewers, we expect their interaction to delve deeper into reality, so we are taken aback by its shallowness. In a different scene, the relationship between Sahir and his father appears to be maturing, but it is overshadowed by lurid cinematography and fourth-wall-breaking speech. It feels false to employ trickery at such a serious time.

Raghav, convinced that his parents have a perfect marriage, actively seeks out drama by getting overly involved in his childhood best friends' romantic relationship. Sahir and Sanya, both struggling with unresolved issues stemming from their relationships with their fathers, find solace in each other. The film promotes the idealism of possessing toxic coping patterns and narcissistic behaviours because one has undergone trauma.

Incoherent character evolution and a baked storyline

Despite its short duration, the movie fails to engage viewers in the manner expected of a comedy. The storyline appears disjointed, lacking cohesion as if each character was penned by a bunch of writers. This results in a narrative that lacks smoothness and continuity. The humour falls short of eliciting laughter with only a couple of scenes managing to be mildly amusing. Overall Ishq Vishk Rebound doesn't quite live up to the charm typically associated with comedies. The entire movie revolves around love triangles and the friends-to-lovers trope raising questions about whether this represents the face of love for today's generation. It fails to capture the essence of Gen Z culture relying instead on cliched dialogues commonly found in Bollywood romances. Despite targeting a Gen Z audience Ishq Vishk Rebound falls flat in offering something innovative sticking closely to friends-to-lovers themes.

Conclusion

While striving to delve into the intricacies and uncertainties of relationships the film merely scratches the surface leaving lingering questions about character motivations and emotions unanswered. Although it focuses on rebounds and fleeting romances, it does not touch upon issues that resonate with audiences across all age groups. With its aim to keep a neutral tone of non-judgemental humour, Ishq Vishq Rebound could have been a worthy one-time watch but the needless tokenism and unnecessary jargon only make the plot of the movie fall flatter.

_Hridya Sharma