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Half Love Half Arranged Review: Maanvi Gagroo, Karan Wahi’s quality performances is let down by poor execution
Planning to watch Half Love Half Arranged this weekend? Read Pinkvilla’s review of this Maanvi Gagroo and Karan Wahi starrer
Name: Half Love Half Arranged
Cast: Maanvi Gagroo,Karan Wahi
Plot
Half Love Half Arranged revolves around a 30-year-old heartbroken gynecologist, Dr. Riya Tanwar (Maanvi Gagroo), who hops on the ‘arranged married bandwagon’ to get back to her ex. However, she soon regrets the decision as it brings along an array of confusion, awkward meeting set ups, misogynist men, and several wrong dates, before she stumbles upon a supposed right match. But is it truly what she was looking for? You’ll have to watch the show to find that out.
What’s Hot?
What really works for me in Half Love Half Arranged is the intent of the show, which propagates the need to follow your heart, and do what you feel is right. While it does get conveyed by the end of the show, sometimes it also feels that director Simarpreet Singh along with his writers has taken a rather long, and a slightly confused path to reach that conclusion, which takes away from the impact of the central theme.
Furthermore, they have represented the North Indian family set up well, which enables them with the right amount of humor and drama. I must mention this one sequence between Riya and her mother (played by Supriya Shukla), which is in the context of apologizing. If you watch the show you would expect the scene to go in a certain stereotyped fashion, however, it does not succumb to that pressure, but presents a truly emotional sequence, which reflects reality and genuineness. 
On the technical front, Director Of Photography Nachiket Pangare’s lens ably brings alive the word of Half Love Half Arranged, and is perfectly supported by Rajesh Chaudhary’s production design. Shweta Puthran’s costume styling is bang on too.
What’s Not?
I believe the show could have been a little more concise. The makers have tried to introduce many layers in Half Love Half Arranged, which just adds up to the confusion, making the show a lengthy affair. Some of the sub themes could have been avoided to make it a pleasant, straightforward watch.
Screenplay and dialogues writers Shruti Bhardwaj and Karpoor Gaurav along with additional screenplay and dialogues writers Simarpreet Singh and Deeba Khan could have focussed a little more on that aspect. Additionally, the climax was expected because of the forced build up around Karan Wahi’s character.
Karthik Rao, Advait Sawant and Vishal Patil’s music does nothing for the show. All these factors combined take away the entertainment factor from Half Love Half Arranged.
Performances
Maanvi Gagroo is the star of the show, and truly lives up to the quirks of her character. She is absolutely seamless in her performance. Karan Wahi’s casting as Jogi is unique, and the actor too justifies the part. However, my complaint is with the writers that made his character way too preachy, which also forces the audience to focus more on his flaws thus making the character and its graph predictable.
The rest of the cast, including Supriya Shukla, Grusha Kapoor, Amit Singh Thakur, Shruti Jolly, Bhavya Grover, Kashish Saluja, Aradhna Tripathi and Pulkit Makol have lent able support to the narrative.
Final Verdict
Maanvi Gagroo and Karan Wahi’s Half Love Half Arranged has the intent, but gets lost in execution.
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