At first glance, Aap Jaisa Koi seems like just another Bollywood rom-com—full of chance encounters, and a touch of melodrama. But it quickly reveals itself as something more subversive: a film that cheerfully dismantles everyday patriarchy, even as it dresses itself in the soft fabric of romantic comedy.

The plot begins with Madhu Bose (Fatima Sana Shaikh), a French teacher from Kolkata, who meets Shrirenu Tripathi (R. Madhavan), a Sanskrit teacher from Jamshedpur. Their family set up their meeting for arrange marriage.

Their worlds are starkly different: Madhu comes from a progressive Bengali family where women have space to dream and err, while Shrirenu is rooted in a conservative North Indian household that clings tightly to gender roles—where the kitchen is a woman’s domain, and ‘fun’ is a man’s entitlement.