One of the key things I often discuss with friends or new people I meet is how – in spite of being connected to each other with the swipes of our fingers; we’ve grown so isolated and distant from each other. The advent of social media has simultaneously made communicating easier and very difficult because how can one understand what a person is feeling when the projection of their life feels so curated and designed? Arjun Varain Singh’s debut film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan takes a look at the life of three friends whose bonds extend beyond the internet, but still, a major chunk of their wishes, needs, and dreams are earmarked through it.
The film introduces us to our wild bunch via a stand-up comedy show. Imaad (Siddhant Chaturvedi) is the talent on stage while his boarding school friends (cum best friends), Neil (Adarsh Gourav) and Ahana (Ananya Pandey) are in the crowd cheering him. It’s a simple set that cutely introduces us to just how close these three people are to each other. Since Imaad and Ahana share a space together, the closeness is more literal – like he never knocks on her door, and she gently asks him not to. They are rich kids, of course, and their comfort with each other comes from that, too. Neil, on the other hand, lives with his parents – a conservative middle-class Christian household where the dad is adamant about him understanding the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants.’
By occupation, Neil is a gym trainer, but his dreams include owning his own studio with premium clientele. A major chunk of his personality is also derived from his infatuation with a popular Influencer who is rising up the social ladder and dragging him along. His dreams are often crushed by people showing him just how small he is. Ahana, on the other hand, an MBA corporate worker, has had a recent heartbreak with her long-time boyfriend, and her cluelesness to operate without him has made her stalk him on social media. When creating fake profiles and realizing that he has moved on really hurts her, she resorts to putting up a sexy persona online. It’s not a way to free herself, but presenting herself in a way that she thinks would bring her boyfriend back to her. Imaad, apart from his stand-up comic persona, is a single child to a father who married after he lost his mother at a young age. He is addicted to Tinder and finds it difficult to be intimate with anyone. He gets therapy, but the inability to own up to what has been holding him back doesn’t allow him to have a proper relationship, in spite of finding a partner of sorts in Simran (Kalki Koechlin).
The three friends decide to join forces to help Neil with his gym idea, but a stand-up set from Imaad that lays bare the futility of Neil’s relationship with said influencer brings cracks in the enterprise. Now, the three of them are also stuck in a situationship (minus the sex) of sorts, and the digital life further jumbles the conflict to a point of no return. Does Kho Gaye Hum Kahan has anything new to say about the digital age? Yes and no!
It has some very minutely observed moments that understand the current generation’s many downfalls. For instance, the first thing Neil resorts to when he feels the walls are closing in on him is to go on the internet and spew vitriol in the comment sections of random people. Another sequence has Ahana trying to complete her task on her work computer, unable to avoid the vibrating after-effects of how her latest post has done on the gram. Small sequences like these give the film a clear edge over all the other movies in India that have tried to dive into the perils of social media. In spite of its South-Bombay-Soho-House-Layed-Back-and-Hip vibe, there are honest moments of warmth and observations that make you feel seen. And since this is a film about the value of truth – not just in maintaining a relationship but in how it shapes a person’s identity, the conflicts introduced by co-writers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Rahul Nair, Yash Sahai, and director Arjun Narain Singh feel palpable and earned.
That said, the film does dip its toes in dealing with said conflicts with easy resolutions. This makes the final leg of the film feel preachy and convenient. The music doesn’t do much to anchor these stories in a headspace that understands or celebrates these people. However, talking about people, one cannot go without saying that one of the strongest aspects of the fim are the three lead performances. The always dependable Adarsh Gourav understands the difference in the stature of his character and that of his friends. The balancing act and his frustration with not being big enough to pursue his dreams can be clearly seen on his face. Siddhant Chaturvedi plays a version of himself after Gehraiyaan and does really well. He shines in those moments when people touch a nerve that he has buried deep inside and is now naked without his jokes coming to his rescue. Ananya Pandey is really impressive as Ahana, a simple girl who wishes for commitment in life. A line of dialogue where she is questioning whether and why men like women who post thirst traps on Instagram is enough for us to understand where she is coming from.
Overall, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is an honest, well-acted look at the fallacies of the social-media-obsessed generation. In spite of being preachy, it manages to take a charming look at contemporary relationships and what makes and breaks them.
