Television series
Modern Love Mumbai
- Romantic drama
- Social drama
- Dip in and out
Modern Love Mumbai adapts the New York Times column for Indian audiences, offering six standalone stories of love in all its forms—romantic, platonic, familial, sexual. Each episode runs roughly 40 minutes, blending drama with moments of genuine warmth and humor. It's for anyone who appreciates character-driven storytelling rooted in recognizable human mess, told with Mumbai's specificity and texture.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like anthology romances that wander from heartbreak to giddy comedy and back, with each episode a self-contained story about a different kind of love set against the bustle of Mumbai.
Skip it if you want a single continuing story or a steady build; each of the six episodes starts over with new people, so momentum resets every forty minutes or so.
What it asks of you: Six separate half-hour-ish episodes, each with its own cast and mood, so you step into a new world each time and must adjust quickly rather than settling into one arc.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Modern Love2019
The original anthology that inspired this series. Six exquisitely crafted episodes about love in New York City, anchored by stellar performances and the kind of writing that makes you nod in recognition at small, true moments of human connection.
But The first season is uneven—some episodes soar while others feel slight. Also, it leans heavily on a certain kind of literary sensibility that won't resonate if you're after plot-driven drama.
Made in Heaven2019
A series about Delhi's wedding industry that becomes a portrait of desire, ambition, and marriage itself. Gorgeously shot, morally complex, with characters who surprise you by refusing to be simple. Indian storytelling at its most confident.
But It's very long and sometimes indulgent. The social commentary can feel heavy-handed, and some subplots outstay their welcome across two seasons.
Lust Stories2018
Four short films by major Indian directors exploring desire and sexuality in contemporary India—frank, funny, sometimes heartbreaking. Each segment is a gem of economy and specificity, showing what's possible when you trust the form.
But It's an anthology, so you'll connect with some stories more than others. Some segments are more successful at balancing frankness with emotional weight than others.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Modern Love Mumbai
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Mouchette1967
Both explore love not as grand gesture but as small recognitions—moments where people truly see each other across difference and distance. Both trust their audiences to feel meaning in quiet acts.
Robert Bresson's portrait of a girl moving through cruelty and indifference in a French village. It's about human connection through loneliness, about what binds us even when love seems impossible. Devastating and precise—every gesture means something.
But It's a 1967 film in a minimalist style with subtitles and no dramatic arc in the conventional sense. Watching it feels like an act of witnessing rather than entertainment. Some will find it austere beyond endurance.
More like this (6)
Fleabag2016
A masterclass in blending comedy and profound loneliness. Phoebe Waller-Bridge creates a world where you're constantly laughing and aching, often simultaneously. The structure of standalone episodes building into something larger is perfect.
But It's darkly cynical in a way that takes effort to match emotionally. The British humor and cultural references won't land if that's not your groove.
Normal People2020
Intimate, sensual, and genuinely moving. A series about two people whose lives keep intersecting across years and continents. It's about how love shapes us even when it can't hold. Extraordinary chemistry and direction.
But It's slow and deliberately unglamorous. If you need clear plot momentum and resolution, this will feel like nothing happens. Emotionally demanding in the best and hardest ways.
Before Sunrise1995
Richard Linklater and two leads having a perfect conversation across a single night in Vienna. It trusts dialogue, specificity, and the electricity of two people discovering each other. One of cinema's finest portraits of connection.
But There's no plot. Literally nothing happens except talking. If you need incident and external conflict, this is torture masquerading as romance.
The Summer I Turned Pretty2022
A sun-soaked ensemble about young love and complicated family bonds. It's earnest and romantic without being saccharine, grounded in genuine emotional stakes. Perfect if you want to feel something without cynicism.
But It trades in nostalgia and beauty in ways that can feel light if you're after deeper complexity. The love triangle resolves exactly as you'd expect.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel2017
A woman finds herself through comedy, marriage crumbles and remakes itself, and New York City becomes a character. It's funny and smart about desire and ambition and the lies we tell ourselves about happiness.
But The show is incredibly busy—rapid-fire jokes and constant movement that exhausts some viewers. Later seasons lose focus trying to do too much at once.
Passage2016
Both are structured as separate stories that accumulate emotional weight through specificity rather than connection. Both find love in overlooked lives and moments—the opposite of grand romance.
A Korean miniseries about the day-to-day kindness between an old man and woman in Seoul. Minimal plot, maximum grace. It's about how we sustain each other with attention and small gestures. Achingly tender.
But Very slow. Very quiet. It's in Korean with subtitles and almost nothing happens. If you need narrative momentum or emotional catharsis, you'll spend the time frustrated.
