Karan Johar’s What The Love is a cringe fest. Here’s Why?

Frivolity rests at the crux of Netflix’s brand-new dating reality show, What The Love curated and directed by the man who has persistently explicated the concept of love on-screen for a legion of Bollywood lovers.  Karan Johar, who gifted the gossipmongers of the nation with the legendary Koffee with Karan, establishes equilibrium tasked with the mantle of playing both the cupid and the shrink to millennials with a messed-up idea of Love in the 7-episode Netflix Original. Guiding the contestants to the light at the end of the deep dark tunnel called love KJo takes it on himself to fix their flaws and get them- Ready for love.

The show commences with a party summoning the singletons to deliver their destiny to Karan Johar, their ultimate messiah in their quest for love. In an unmistakably scripted scenario, Karan runs his expedious assessment scrutinizing the crowd to shortlist six stereotypes whose vexed accounts constitute the diegesis of the subsequent episodes. The three chosen women are tormented by body image issues albeit disparate, jeopardizing their dating prospects, the two men suffer from latent personality disorders. The third is a homosexual man struggling to find love and KJo takes him under his wings, well because INCLUSIVITY. 

As KJo hones this bunch of clueless adults, one episode at a time, the show is continually embellished with his celebrity friends from stand-up comics to A-list and B-list actors. There are segments to address their mindset, their hair and clothes, and a prep-date where the candidate meets a celebrity to help them work through what’s holding them back. One chubby chick reels from the aftermath of an arranged marriage encounter where the prospective mother in-law compelled her to stand on a weighing scale, the second one has a scar on her face, resultantly scarring potential suitors as she friend-zones them, the third battles a low self-esteem  reverberating out of a former toxic relationship. The two men have predictable personality traits- workaholic and commitment-phobic respectively. In one of the highlights- Bollywood actor, Ali Fazal turns up as the prep-date for the man who is gay, clearly because no real homosexual celebrity failed to step up. AND We’re in 2020- cheers to the year of the queer.  

While the show thrives on the mainstream mantra- Love yourself before you seek for love, it fails to drive home the potency of the statement as celebrity counselling sessions and fashion make-over are deployed as vital steps to the contestant’s transformation. Although, What The Love vigorously attempts at highlighting the character flaws and vulnerabilities dormant in humans, it falls short of plausible making it only briefly watchable in parts. Needless to say, all the contestants, by the end of their respective episodes found their gateway into love, if not their happily ever after. While the women choose the obviously good-looking man, the men take power dynamics into account. In a fierce endeavor to shatter stereotypes, the show augments their reinforcement.    7-episode binge fest on Sunday- I had myself questioning- What’s the point of What the Love? 

Overall, What the Love, just like its name is absolutely unoriginal but does make for some mindless entertainment.