Never Kiss Your Best Friend
Never Kiss Your Best Friend is a web series based on two best friends fighting their feelings for each other. The ZEE5 web series premiered on 10th January 2020. The show is directed by Arif Khan, written by Sumrit Shahi and stars Anya Singh, Nakuul Mehta in the leading roles.
The first season garnered appreciation from the viewers. Keeping the viewers entertained during the lockdown, the makers have decided to release a lockdown special edition of the series, but with a TWIST! The series stars Zain Iman and Anya Singh in the lead roles and is set to release on 18th June 2020 on ZEE5. The second season is also written by Sumrit Shahi and directed by Arif Khan.
Plot
Never Kiss Your Best Friend is a story based on Sumrit Shahi’s novel of the same name. It is a story about two best friends, Tanie and Sumer who fall in love with each other after five years of separation. The web series redefines the rules of friendship between a girl and a boy.The show plays across two timelines - their youth when their friendship was the highlight of their lives and their adulthood when they meet after five years. What happened to the friendship? What made them drift apart? Will they ever cover the distance and confront their feelings for each other?
Lockdown Special
The lockdown edition comes with a twist. Can you fall in love, all over again, with the first man you ever kissed? Especially when you’ve decided to stay away from love after a kiss with a best friend, ruined your idea of love, in the first place?Cast
- Anya Singh as Tanie Brar
- Nakuul Mehta as Sumer Singh Dhillon
- Suchitra Krishnamoorthi as Sumer's Mother
- Rituraj Singh as Sumer's Father
- Niki Aneja as Tanie's Mother
- Vivek Mushran as Tanie's Father
Lockdown Special
- Anya Singh as Tanie Brar
- Zain Iman as Sumer Singh Dhillon
- Javed Jaffery as Mammu
- Niki Walia as Happy Auntie
- Anup Soni as Anup
- Juhi Babbar as Fatima
- Randeep Rai as Punit
Episodes
Lockdown Special
In June 2020, the cast and crew shot a special edition at home, actors Anya Singh and Zain Iman were added as additional cast to the series.“During the lockdown, I am sure many of us connected with our long-lost friends and exes! The story of ‘Never Kiss Your Best Friend’ lockdown special is synonymous to the current situation, from rekindling with our exes or procrastinating on our past love,” Zain said. The season two is set to return on 18 June 2020.| Episode No. | Title | Plot | Directed By | Written/Produced By |
| 1 | Lockdown mein Blast from the past | If getting stuck in Delhi, in the lockdown wasn’t enough, Tanie’s position of being a social media celebrity and best selling author is threatened when a Blast from the past decides to reveal a big secret. And it all goes kaboom! | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 2 | Sumer Jhootha- Main Sachi ! | Nobody wants to remember their then first ex boyfriend especially when they are being trolled online all because of him. But Tanie can’t ignore Zayed. Not with the biggest challenge of her life facing her. all in the times of corona | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 3 | Ex sey dosti karogey? | Tanie and Zayed try to clear the misunderstanding that ruined their relationship. It makes sense, now that Tanie’s mom wants her to have a love story, not for her necessarily, though | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 4 | Meri mom ki conspiracy | They’re lonely in a pandemic. They’ve shared a kiss. They’ve broken up. And now they’re thinking of becoming friends again. They both know, this isn’t the best idea. But they might just go ahead with it. | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 5 | Fake relationship or pehla pyaar? | Her maamu won’t stop pranking her while her mother has come up with the strangest plan to make sure her new book is a success. Zayed on the other hand is realising the hard way that being friends with an ex is not only difficult but impossible. What will Tanie do when she’s thrown in it All? | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 6 | Anything for my bestfriend | Going by Tanie’s Mother’s plan, Tanie and Zayed pretend to be what they’re not for Tanie’a fans. A couple. Just that, staying just friends in the real world is equally difficult especially when Tanie realises Zayed perhaps hasn’t changed, after all. | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 7 | #instalove | Amidst a fight with Zayed, Tanie’s informed she could possible be infected with the virus after a contact tests positive. What will Tanie do, with the heart and the threat of the virus, torturing her in equal amounts | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 8 | Tanie positive hai? | Where a night of light drinking makes Zayed and Tanie cross a line they had decided not to. Is this a new beginning? Or the beginning of an end? | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 9 | Pehla nasha. Aakhri hangover | With the wedding of Zayed's sister, both Tanie and Zayed relook at their own relationship and arrive at contrasting destinations. Will the twain ever meet? | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
| 10 | Tume Dosti chahiye aur mujhe pyaar. | :At the big day of ending of the lockdown and the decision arrives, the world watches on as their favorite writer faces the most difficult question she has ever faced. | Arif Khan | Sumrit Shahi |
Reception
The web series received positive feedback from the critics. Shweta Keshri from India Today gave a positive response and wrote, "It's a fun story about two friends who gradually realise that they could be more than just that. With an onslaught of crime-thrillers, Never Kiss Your Best Friend is a simple story that millennials can easily relate to".Arushi Jain of The Indian Express commented, "Never Kiss Your Best Friend provides all the entertainment of a Bollywood-ish romantic drama packaged in a web series format. A perfect pick for a lazy weekend with your bae".