Ishq Next Door Episode 5 Review: The new JioCinema original series directed by Akhilesh Vats, follows the life of a young man catching feelings for the girl next door. The series’ main cast includes Abhay Mahajan as Dev, Natasha Bharadwaj as Meher, Purav Jha as Chuttan, Mrinal Dutt as Ashwin, Gopi Desai as Dev’s mother, and other actors. Each episode from the 10-part series will be released daily, and the runtime of the episodes will be approximately 20 minutes.
– Ishq Next Door Episode 5 Review Contains Mild Spoilers –
Ishq Next Door Episode 5 Recap
The Raja Vihar community celebrates Pratik scoring 599/600 in his HSC board exam while Chuttan sits at home heartbroken, due to failing the boards. Dev comforts his younger brother, but Chuttan remains numb. Now that he has to repeat the exams and be the junior of his younger friend, Chuttan loses his spark.
On the other hand, Dev keeps rejecting Meher’s calls until he picks them up one day and lies to her that he’s busy. That night, Ashwin calls Meher to walk with him around the colony since the power is down. Meher initially rejects, but Ashwin keeps yelling her name from outside her home, so she agrees to the stroll. On their way to the bench, Ashwin notices two kids playing hide and seek and reminisces about his childhood with Meher.
In the flashback, we see an adolescent Ashwin proposing to Meher, who accepts him playfully. It’s clear that they both didn’t develop genuine romance but were two tiny kids who decided to go with the flow. When the duo sits on the bench, Ashwin notices Meher concentrating only on her phone and becomes disheartened.
Meanwhile, Dev and Chuttan also come for a walk. Since the former wants his younger brother to get rid of his sad thoughts, he pushes Chuttan to play with the neighbourhood kids and refresh his mind. Meher notices Dev and calls out for him. She asks him the reason behind ignoring her, and he states that he has been busy with work.
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Dev joins Meher and Ashwin, and the latter purposely brings in old tales of him and Meher. A sad Dev leaves the spot when the power comes back. At home, Dev confronts Chuttan and motivates him to study well. He also says that he will sleep in the other room so that Chuttan can prepare well. After Dev leaves, Chuttan picks up his phone and calls his crush, Tanya. He flirts with her, proving that he wasn’t seriously sad all this while.
Dev, who seems to know his brother better, comes inside the room and interrupts the call. Dev playfully hits Chuttan and commands him to study. At Meher’s home, her father reads the college acceptance letter and rages at her. Meher asks him to understand her passion for fashion, but her father rudely declines. A sleepless Meher texts Dev but doesn’t get a reply from him.
The next day, Ashwin calls Meher to a cafe to confess his love to her. During their normal conversation, Ashwin realises that Meher has feelings for Dev. Ashwin signals the waiter not to bring the gift to the table as he knows she will eventually reject him. Meher happily leaves the cafe to confess to Dev while a broken-hearted Ashwin looks down at the bracelet he bought for Meher.
Meher buys chowmein from the Gulati shop and visits Dev’s home only to find that they’re holding a small alliance gathering for Dev. Previously Dev agreed to proceed with wedding plans as his mother emotionally requested him. However, Dev still has feelings for Meher, and when he finds the latter standing at their doorstep, he asks her if she needs any help (he’s clueless about her feelings). Meher sidesteps the question and wishes him the best.
In the last scene, Dev sits with his mind clouded with Meher’s thoughts, an upset Ashwin ends up beating up a man on the road, and Meher walks down the street, crying.
Ishq Next Door Episode 5 Review
In most of the K-dramas, a love triangle ends when the second lead finds out about the girl/boy’s love interest. This is pretty much what happened in this series as well. Though the story is very much predictable, a rom-com lover won’t say no to watching these sorts of series. From what’s happening, of course, Meher and Dev will end up together once they sort out the misunderstanding. Ashwin will back off and proceed with his life. The reason why Ishq Next Door is entertaining is due to the character sketches of the cast.
As a viewer, this series is a one-time watch, as it has a cute romance story with silly heartbreaks and relatable jokes. If I have to analyse it sceptically, this series won’t stand out much (obviously). But as a viewer who wants a decent story with sensible jokes, subtle romance, and a good cast, yes, one can watch this one.
Ishq Next Door is streaming on JioCinema. Let us know your thoughts on this series in the comment section.
Also read: All the Reviews of Ishq Next Door!