Nadaaniyan (transl. Innocence) is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language teen romantic comedy film directed by Shauna Gautam (in her directorial debut) and produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra under Dharmatic Entertainment. The film stars Ibrahim Ali Khan (in his acting debut) and Khushi Kapoor, alongside Mahima Chaudhry, Dia Mirza, Suniel Shetty, and Jugal Hansraj. It tells the story of a privileged South Delhi school girl who gets a boyfriend-for-hire to get back at her family and classmates. The film was released on 7 March 2025 on Netflix, and received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Pia, a privileged South Delhi teenager, struggles in a dysfunctional family in which her misogynistic father is cheating on her socialite mother. After clashing with her family as well as her classmates at her high school Falcon High, she pays a middle-class Noida boy, Arjun, ₹25,000 (US$290) per week to pose as her boyfriend. Arjun is a scholarship student at Falcon High, and shares a warm relationship with his mother, a teacher, and father, a doctor. Despite these differences, Pia and Arjun eventually fall in love.

Cast

Production

Nadaaniyan marks the directorial debut of Shauna Gautam, who was an assistant director to producer Karan Johar on his directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023). It also marks the acting debut of Ibrahim Ali Khan, the son of actor Saif Ali Khan and actress Amrita Singh.

Music

The film's music was composed by Sachin–Jigar while lyrics was written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The first single titled "Ishq Mein" was released on 3 February 2025. The second single titled "Galatfehmi" was released on 17 February 2025. The third single titled "Nadaaniyan" was released on 4 March 2025.

Release

The film's trailer was released on 1 March 2025. The film premiered at a special screening to mark Ibrahim Ali Khan's birthday on 5 March 2025. It released on 7 March 2025 on Netflix.

Reception

Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in opined, "The mostly breezy and quickly forgettable film rolls out the requisite packaging needed to justify itself. You have the bright lighting, modish costumes and appropriate Gen Z lingo, but not the compelling characters or unexpected scenarios that might generate emotional investment in exaggerated conflicts." NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee termed it "a passably lively but spectacularly shallow rom-com", adding that despite addressing certain serious themes, "its tone being steadfastly glib, its well-meaning postulations do not quite hit home". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com reviewed, "Recycling the likes of Drive Me Crazy and ilk for its hackneyed plot and a wannabe attempt at Never Have I Ever's self-aware humour, Nadaaniyan's lack of charm, chemistry and cheek fails to create any ripples." Hindustan Times' Rishabh Suri wrote that the "world of Nadaaniyan exists in a bubble, isolated from the realities of life", and criticised the screenplay of Ishita Moitra, Riva Razdan Kapoor and Jehan Handa for its "tone-deaf portrayal of school life". Similarly, Mid-Day's Bohini Bandopadhyay opined that the script felt AI-generated. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express also found the film "tone deaf, and offensive, in a plot that feels like a rehash of every Karan Johar rom com ever made, without his trademark sparkle". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter India, Rahul Desai dismissed the performances of both Khushi Kapoor and Ibrahim Ali Khan, and bemoaned that the film "blunts the Dharma Productions’ shtick of meta gags, woke updates and confessional storytelling". Mint Lounge's Uday Bhatia found Jugal Hansraj and Dia Mirza's performances to be the sole positive aspects of an "uninspired, unsure film". Vineeta Kumar of India Today labelled the film "dated" and "unsalvageable", and was particularly unimpressed with the chemistry between Kapoor and Khan. Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost found it an "utterly immature dramedy" and panned Kapoor's "expressionless face and frozen smile". The Hindu's Anuj Kumar criticised it as another attempt of producer Karan Johar to launch nepo babies, and was dismissive of Khan's performance, writing that he "seems to be reading his lines instead of rendering them".

References

External links

Nadaaniyan at IMDb Nadaaniyan at Bollywood Hungama Nadaaniyan on Netflix