'Better and relatable than Archies': Gen Zs laud Ananya Pandey – Siddhant Chaturvedi's Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, call it 'eye-opener'

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, a 'coming-of-digital-age' movie starring Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Adarsh Gourav, dropped on Netflix India on Tuesday. The film talks about love, friendship, situation ship and Gen Z dating scenario."Kho Gaye Hum Kahan' takes a sly dig at social media influencers and users getting fascinated by millions of followers. The reel and real-life issues and how social media addiction ruins life

The story starts with SoBo (South Bombay) kids living in a perfect apartment with wide French windows in Bombay. Their occupations comprise a struggling stand-up comic and a multinational employee with an MBA—afford this lavish lifestyle.

Siddhanth aces as a stand-up comedian; by far, this is Ananya's best performance to date.

Plot

Imaad is a Tinder 'addict' who has issues with long-term commitment. Ahana tries to make her ex-boyfriend jealous by posting happy and sensuous pictures of her on Instagram to gain her ex-boyfriend Rohan's attention. Neil, who is a budding gym trainer, has a dream of owning his gym. He tries to compare his life with others by looking at their social media posts. He starts to date social media influencer Lala (Anya Singh), but she dumps him and goes ahead with someone rich and who has a better fan following. In jest and anger, Neil creates her fake profile and dreams of her character on social media. He also trolls' other celebs on social media.

All the characters are relatable. From targeting trolls to social media influencers running behind followers and how people are obsessed with likes, shares and comments is what the show is all about.

After all, the side effects of social media and the emotions that we undergo are similar and everyone shares it.

Every person in Gen Z is going through certain ups and downs in life, mostly because they are influenced by social media. The film beautifully talks about how what's seen on social media is not the reality of life.

Kalki is like a breath of air and the most sorted one of the lots in the chaotic life of Gen Z.

"'Sirf lagta hai connected hain but isse zyada akele pehle kabhi nahi the," Kalki Koechlin's wiser, older soul says.

The film delves deeper into the dark world of social media. Whether millennials or Gen Z, everyone will relate to this and may give more time to their personal lives and priorities.

A user wrote, "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan - Easily, the most relatable movie of the year for me! Simple, warm, and entertaining. The music was good!"

Another mentioned, "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan - Loved it! Great direction, the actors delved into the characters and the story hit home. Ananya Panday should choose more scripts like this that challenge her and let her shine as well."

The third user mentioned, "His particular scene in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan employs cinematic brilliance to vividly draw parallels between the onset of Ahana's social media stalking and her going down a downward spiral. Such a relevant and insightful watch!"

The fourth user mentioned, "Watched Kho Gaye Hum Kahan. It's a film on friendship & the superficial internet life in general. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a good movie with good performances. Liked it."

The fifth user mentioned, "Saw Kho Gaye Hum Kahan last night and we enjoyed it. It's a GenZ take on the evils of social media and how it's steering many to nowhere !!! Very well done."

A section of users compared it with Zoya Akhtar's Archies and lauded Kho Gaye Hum Kahan

A user said, "Watching 'Kho Gaye Hum Kahan' and it's so much better and relatable than Archies, I am just 30 mins in but it's good. Ananya Pandey over Suhana Khan any day, bro." 

Filmmaker Arjun Varain Singh's Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, starring Ananya Panday, Adarsh Gourav, and Siddhant Chaturvedi, premiered on Netflix on 26 December 2023.