Kho Gaye Hum Kahan review: Of friendship, coming of age, and social media

But written by Zoya Akhtar, Arjun Varain Singh, Reema Kagti, and Yash Sahai, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is one of the first Hindi films to get the grammar and the syntax of being online right. In its 134-minute runtime, several scenes, details, and observations stand out. For instance, there’s one in which Ahana is trying to focus on preparing a pitch for investors to fund the gym that she, Imaad, and Neil want to start together. She’s just shared a post on Instagram and put her phone in the drawer to avoid distraction. But it just won’t stop buzzing. She fidgets and resists the temptation to check for a long five seconds before giving in. The film also takes a good look at the messy bubble of influencers, the ugliness of online stalking, doomscrolling, shitposting, and the making of a troll.

The real victory of Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is its casting. Irrespective of their disparate positions and worldviews in real life, Panday, Chaturvedi, and Gourav’s on-screen chemistry feels so lived-in, it flows. Ahead of the movie’s release, I was a little nervous for Panday but her performance in the film alongside actors as skilled as Gourav and Chaturvedi proves that Gehraiyaan was no fluke and that there is more to her than she lets on. The two men are as solid as always but Panday is the real revelation here.

I also like how there is not an iota of sexual tension between the lead trio. The film explores the comfortable, platonic dynamic between friends that cuts seamlessly across genders, a reality that has been and continues to be the experience of a large segment of urban millennials and GenZ. Ahana, Imaad, and Neil are like pyjamas or daal chawal for each other. They might post pictures of themselves in fineries at up-scale pubs, but they always return home to each other. The Hindi film buddy trio finally has a woman in it. It’s such a welcome upgrade to the erstwhile all-boys club of Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara (2011).

But standard Tiger Baby problems persist. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is brimming to the full with platitudes. All the conflicts are neatly packaged and airbrushed to perfection, allowing little room for the chaos that is real life. Moreover, it tries too hard to be cool and current; you’ll find all the tropes and threads at play. It uses the language right but gets the currency wrong. It also pigeonholes the wonderful Kalki Koechlin yet again, making her play a variation of her roles in Made in Heaven (2019-), Gully Boy (2019), and ZNMD. And finally, it doesn’t forget to use the favourite weapon in Zoya Akhtar’s arsenal—voiceover for moral posturing. The film spells out everything and drills it down, for it fears its own cleverness. What if you don’t get it?