Madhavan, Fatima on ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ and relationship complexities

Story by ANI | Posted by Vidushi Gaur | Date 07-07-2025

A still from film 'Aap Jaisa Koi'

Mumbai

Actors R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh, who are gearing up for the release of their upcoming film 'Aap Jaisa Koi', discussed the romantic drama and how the story is relatable, portraying the real aspects of relationships.

Starring Madhavan as Shrirenu, a reserved Sanskrit teacher, and Fatima Sana Shaikh as Madhu, a spirited French instructor, 'Aap Jaisa Koi' brings together two opposites in a story that's as much about family and belonging as it's about romance.

The film is directed by Vivek Soni.

In a conversation with ANI, Madhavan shared, "The film 'Aap Jaisa Koi' addresses the problem of loneliness."

He continued, "Aaj kal ke zamane mein jaisa ki humne film mein bhi kaha hai akelapan sabse badi bimari hai sabki bheed mein rehte huye social media hote huye aap raat koi sote waqt yehi feel karte ho ki mere karibi log mujhe pasand karte hai aur us akelepan ko, lonliness ko address karte huye ye film hai jahan hum keh rahe hai aap jasa koi hamari zindagi mein ho jaaye to hume us akelepan ki dawa mil jaye.. ( Even when you are in a crowd, even when you are in social media, sometimes when you keep your head on the pillow at night, you are forced to think, do the people close to me like me as much as I depend on them? And this film addresses that loneliness, where we are saying that if we get someone like you, we will get the medicine for this loneliness."

Fatima, who is known for her roles in 'Ludo', 'Ajeeb Daastaans', 'Modern Love Mumbai', and others shared how she got the project and why she decided to be part of it, saying, "Vivek called me, who is the director of our film, and he told me roughly what it is, and then he sent me the script. The script is very beautiful. If you see in the trailer, there is a beautiful emotion, that there is a boy and a girl who love each other, and we keep hearing the complications between them. But how to tell what their conflicts are, they were very layered. And on top of that, I was getting a chance to work with Maddy for the first time, and I didn't want to miss that and lose that. So I was very excited."

She added, "The film beautifully shows the emotional complexities and conflicts between a man and a woman."

The 'Kesari Chapter 2' actor shared what he liked most about this project, saying, "The specialty of this story is that it is an age-appropriate role. I am not playing a 22-23 year old hero, I am playing a 40 year old man, who falls in love for the first time... jab insaaan ko pehli baar pyar hota hai vo teenager ki tarah hi behave karta hai..We are learning how to express love in new ways in this modern age..."

"After watching the film, you will realise that there are still many good things in this world, and there will be some complications, complicated individuals, but there is still goodness and love," added Madhavan.

The Netflix film features Madhavan as Shrirenu Tripathi, who has been raised in a rigid Jamshedpur-based family led by patriarchs who abide by a set of rules and regulations for women.

Situations take a downturn when Madhavan falls in love with Fatima.

Fatima hails from an independent family and believes in speaking her mind, objecting to the systemic condition of women being forced to follow rather than lead.

The movie features the collision of two contrasting ideologies, leaving the couple heartbroken as their love suffers.

Explaining the concept of the film and how it subtly challenges patriarchy, the 'Dangal' actress said, "In this film we are talking about finding true equality in love... There are those who are patriarchal, who are aggressive, but here we are not talking about that man. We are talking about a very innocent man who actually wants to love. But his conditioning is such that he doesn't realise that the way he loves is not equal...after watching this film, men will realise that women today are not trying to control men..hum bahiut hi choti baat kar rahe hum equality ki baat kar rahe.."

Earlier, taking to his Instagram handle, actor R Madhavan shared the trailer for the film, which features a unique chemistry between him and Fatima Sana Shaikh.

According to the trailer, the movie is about the love between a couple who must overcome obstacles stemming from different cultures and ideologies.