If your 21-year-old self had a vision board, there is a good chance it would have looked slightly less ambitious than Shyamili Das’ (Aarushi Bajaj). Hers has everything: a dream college, a CEO job, two children and, most importantly, a rich boyfriend. Because apparently adulthood is much easier when you have already planned it down to the last detail. The only problem? Life has not agreed to follow the script.
Sreeti Mukerji’s Don’t Be Shy takes this familiar coming-of-age setup and gives it a glossy, pop-culture-heavy makeover. Produced by Alia Bhatt and Shaheen Bhatt, the Prime Video film is colourful, youthful and determined to speak the language of its young characters.
There are college fests, dramatic entrances, social-media lingo, fourth-wall breaks and enough references to make the film feel like it has been assembled from a teenager’s saved Instagram posts and favourite coming-of-age movies.
At the centre of all this is Shy, a young woman who is convinced she knows exactly where her life is headed. She is ambitious, controlling and, at times, hilariously delusional about how perfectly she has everything figured out.
Her relationship with Mayank Jhunjhunwalla (Piyush Khati), the wealthy and popular boyfriend she considers one of her biggest achievements, is an important part of that carefully constructed life. Then, naturally, things refuse to remain convenient.
Mayank’s exit sends Shy into a tailspin, while the arrival of Tara Verma (Bianca Arora) complicates matters in a way that is far more interesting than the usual romantic rivalry. Tara could easily have been written as the predictable other girl, but Don’t Be Shy makes a more refreshing choice.
The relationship that develops between the two women gradually becomes the film’s emotional centre, and their friendship is easily among its better-written elements.
That is where the film occasionally rises above its candy-floss surface. Shy and Tara are not constantly reduced to competing for the same man. There is room for affection, awkwardness, support and the kind of friendship that arrives when you least expect it.
The film also touches upon body image, insecurities, ambition and the pressure to look like you have everything together, although these ideas are explored within the film’s deliberately heightened universe rather than with any great seriousness.
Shy’s fourth-wall-breaking moments are another interesting choice. She speaks directly to the audience, filling us in on her thoughts and plans while maintaining the illusion that she has complete control over her story.
It is a device that works in parts, particularly because the confident exterior hides someone who is considerably more uncertain than she would like everyone to believe.
The problem is that Don’t Be Shy does not always know what to do once the novelty wears off. The film has plenty of ingredients for a fun coming-of-age story, but its trajectory is fairly easy to predict. The romantic complications, personal setbacks and eventual lessons rarely arrive as surprises.
There are also stretches where the narrative begins to wander, making the nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime feel longer than it needs to.
The emotional beats, too, could have used more breathing room. Shy is going through enough upheaval to make for a genuinely affecting story, but the screenplay often moves on before the consequences of one development have properly settled. As a result, some of the heartbreak feels more like a plot requirement than something that leaves a lasting bruise.
The supporting cast adds colour, although several characters are left hovering around the edges of the story. Kunaal Roy Kapur brings his familiar comic ease as Mr Q, while Anurag Basu, Neha Dhupia and Anju Alva Naik make their presence felt without always getting enough material to leave a substantial mark. Neha Dhupia’s Nandini, in particular, seems positioned to have a deeper significance in Shy’s world than the film eventually explores.
The young cast, however, keeps the film moving. Aarushi Bajaj makes Shy sufficiently likeable even when her character is being difficult, dramatic or simply ridiculous. There is an appealing sincerity to her performance, especially in quieter moments when Shy’s carefully maintained confidence begins to crack. Piyush Khati gives Mayank the requisite charm, even if the character itself remains familiar territory.
Bianca Arora brings an infectious energy to Tara, and the film benefits whenever she and Aarushi share the frame. Ansh Duggal is particularly effective as Dhruv Kumar, bringing a restrained vulnerability to a character who could easily have become another standard romantic option in the equation. His scenes with Shy have some of the film’s more convincing emotional moments.
Visually, Don’t Be Shy knows exactly what it wants to be. It is bright, polished and unabashedly youthful, with a comic-book quality that fits its heightened storytelling. Ram Sampath’s music adds to the breezy atmosphere, although the soundtrack does not always have the staying power one might expect from a film so invested in young love and college life.
There is nothing particularly wrong with wanting to make a light, uncomplicated coming-of-age film. In fact, Don’t Be Shy is at its most enjoyable when it stops trying to manufacture big emotional moments and simply lets its characters be young, messy and occasionally stupid.
The trouble is that the film has a familiar story and does not always bring enough freshness to make that familiarity exciting.
By the time Shy begins to understand that the life she meticulously planned may not necessarily be the life she wants, the message has already been telegraphed several times over.
Don’t Be Shy is colourful, occasionally funny and carried by a promising young ensemble, but its predictable storytelling and uneven pacing keep it from becoming the memorable coming-of-age film it clearly wants to be.
It is an easy watch for a lazy afternoon, but don’t expect it to leave you staring at the ceiling afterwards, questioning every decision you’ve made since college.
