Chand Mera Dil was preceded by a mysterious silence. Considering the noise level of the industry even average romantic dramas can get aggressively marketed, this film has made a remarkable impact with little noise. But after seeing it, I really felt that the lack of discussion in the hallways didn’t really seem to reflect what was actually in the theater. It proved to be one of the most surprising Hindi movies in 2026. I came in expecting a campus love story, and I got so much more. I got an emotional and complex love story, with a lot of guilt, and maturity and the agony of a growing up before life allows you to breathe.
The tale is about two college students who fall into each others’ lives by chance and gradually become inseparable. The movie has a romantic aura in the initial part. The first parts are sweet, playful, youthful, and emotional awkward, what first love is made of. But the film has the ability to conceal its true agenda. The trailer gives nothing away to a great extent about the actual story, and I really liked that because the emotional arc of the story during the stretch really did surprise me. All of a sudden, it’s not only about romance, it’s about responsibilities, regret, emotional imbalance, loneliness, and one person continually apologizing while the other won’t accept it.
The thing that really impressed me was the breakdown emotional state of the character of Lakshya. The entire performance in Lakshya is very vulnerable. I’ve seen him in spaces where he was moving around, but here, the emotional weight worked much better for him. There are moments where he just cries, breaks down, or responds in silence, and those ones had an impact on me more than any of the more dramatic moments. However, the writing is worth the same accolade as the character since the character is purposefully flawed. He won’t be seen as flawless, heroic or idealized. Rather, he is constantly struggling to correct himself throughout most of the film, while taking ownership of his mistakes, and the road to rectification keeps the audience emotionally invested in him.
But, on the flip side, Ananya Panday is a liability as well as a strength for the film. I don’t believe that her acting is the problem in this case. In fact, she is in a perfect fit into the modern urban environment of the story. Her character is too idealized, that’s the actual issue. It is the writing that continually pushes her to be smarter, stronger, and morally better for all situations. At times, it genuinely feels like the screenplay is scared of allowing her character to be vulnerable or wrong. As a result, emotional encounters often end up being unproductive and unbalanced. The boy continues to apologise and the girl remains in control of the emotional direction of the relation. After a while, I realized that it was repetitive and unbalanced.
However, there are moments between the two main characters where I don’t believe I would have been able to get those moments right otherwise. They are believable in their chemistry in less serious scenes, particularly in the college scenes, which are drifts of childish squabbles and stilted flirtations and emotional miscommunication. Even their battles are raw, for their twenties. It’s obvious that this movie is aimed at younger audiences, especially those who know how relationships can get messy in their emotional state.
The look of the film is amazing. Each frame seems to be flawlessly crafted, vibrantly coloured, and aesthetically pleasing. Director Vivek Soni demonstrates his knack for evoking emotions that look filmic yet remain intimate once more. At times, I was so sidetracked by the way the scenes were set up, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t still watching. The lighting, the framing and the overall visual texture of the film make it look more glossy and yet more warm and emotional. It hardly ever gets boring.
The music also deserves praise as it is the emotional framework of the story. The songs are not just put in for the sale of their merchandise. Their songs are emotive and frequently express the characters’ feelings indirectly. There are tracks that disappear from one’s mind after the end of the movie. The sound track is reminiscent of Saiyaara in mood and texture, but narratively it’s quite different altogether. One is a love that is impossible fantasy; this is a love that is a painful reality.
The film however becomes predictable towards the end. The emotional pattern immediately becomes apparent because the screenplay is continually protecting one character, and emotionally defeating the other. I also felt that the climax was not as strong as it could have been because the emotional ending is seen from afar. A touch of balance in the writing would have made for a great upward elevation of the film.
The dialogues sometimes end up being hilariously bizarre as well. The repeated “Chand Chand Chand” lines brought to my mind, the overexposed “Shiva Shiva” slogan of Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva. Also, the way the heroine’s stubbornness is depicted is hilarious.
The logic of the film is not the best either. What the college life looks like here is very dramatised and the changes in emotions and situations are so fast that the audience has to accept them as if they were moving in a cinematic manner. For someone who views this seeking realism, this experience might not work. I personally feel that the movie resonates with viewers in the 18-30 year age group the best, as these are the times when one might feel emotionally lost.
Chand Mera Dil ultimately took me aback. It’s of course emotional, visually elegant, musically strong and much more heartfelt than the low buzz indicated. It is predictable and has some definite, one-sided character writing, but the film still leaves a true emotional punch. Not perfect, but I would definitely not say it’s bad. This might have been one of the best romantic dramas of the year, if the writing was more even.
Rating: 3.5/5
