1. It all began with Vinay...
To be very honest, this was the starting point of all my suspicions. A few days after Indian Matchmaking started streaming, one of the participants on the show, Vinay Chadha (who was dating Nadia), took to Instagram to give an explanation for his behaviour on the show. His Instagram post said that he had never ghosted Nadia and her friends because he hadn't been informed about the meeting in the first place.
It made me wonder - if the makers of Indian Matchmaking really did manipulate the Nadia-Vinay storyline like this, what else could they have done?
2. Nadia, girl, what are you hiding?
In the bonus episode of Indian Matchmaking that released on 29 July, I honestly thought Nadia would actually give us a proper lowdown of the truth about the date on which, she claims, Vinay ghosted her. After all, it's been a major controversy on the internet. We're all waiting to find out if Vinay is the player you say he is, Nadia. So tell us!
Except she didn't. When Dolly Singh confronted Nadia about the ghosting controversy, Nadia simply declined to answer the question.
Hmm, Nadia has some secrets up her sleeve, doesn't she?
In fact, in the teaser for the bonus episode that Netflix India released on its Instagram, there's a part where Nadia says "I know he mentioned having receipts, but I mean, I was on the other end of those receipts so I have them too." But somehow, this part isn't included in the actual 40-minute-long episode??
It's not like Netflix doesn't know about the Nadia-Vinay conspiracy theories floating on the internet. There is a reason they started that teaser with Vinay talking about the ghosting incident.
See what I mean?
3. Silence may be louder than words but not in Akshay's case
Indian Matchmaking wasn't as much about Akshay as it was about his mom projecting all her patriarchal expectations on her nonexistent daughter-in-law. Akshay barely spoke a word but interestingly, that wasn't the case in the bonus episode.
Well, I'm just going to let this YouTube comment explain the rest of it...
4. Mystery woman Radhika
I am 50% convinced that this Radhika woman who Akshay almost got married to does not exist. I can say this confidently for three reasons:
I spent a considerable amount of time in search of a CA Radhika from Udaipur but couldn't find her. Even other publications seem to have failed at what's supposed to be the easiest thing in today's world.
Why didn't the makers reveal Radhika's surname? You're telling me that they revealed full names of all one-date-wonders featured on the show but just *forgot* about it when it comes to one of the central plots?
If Vinay and Guru could be a part of the bonus episode, then why not Radhika? The Akshay-Radhika plot was also quite talked about on the internet.
Just doesn't add up in my head. Does Radhika even exist? What if she's a last minute junior artist pulled in to give the show some semblance of a closure since Sima aunty clearly failed at her job?
5. Akshay and Radhika's 'Roka' business was a shady affair
Why was the roka ceremony so...lowkey? We know Indian Matchmaking was shot during pre-COVID so that's not it. For sure.
Of course, I understand that not all roka ceremonies are as ostentatious but aren't Akshay and Radhika shown as people from financially well-off backgrounds? Isn't 'elite matrimony' the whole identity of the show?
Also - let me remind you about those aunties who were oh-so-worried about Akshay's marriage. Where were they during the Roka ceremony?
So, I guess what I'm saying is that... is it possible the Roka ceremony was staged?
6. A slip of tongue or the accidental truth?
In the bonus episode, Dolly Singh asks Akshay about the kitchen interaction between Akshay and his mom where the latter says something about Akshay's future wife packing his tiffin for him. In his defence, Akshay calls the interaction a "scene." He says, "It was supposed to be a funny scene."
Um...Akshay...people don't refer to anecdotes from their life as "scenes."
Is it possible that some conversations and interactions may have been scripted? Or was that simply a slip of tongue?
7. So, Akshay suddenly grew a spine after the 'Roka' ceremony?
In the bonus episode, Akshay really tries *hard* to compensate for whatever went wrong with his storyline in the show. It's almost painful to watch but the bit where he talks about not having had enough conversations with Radhika just doesn't sit right with me. He had been interacting with her, we saw it happen.
So how come it took him a full-fledged roka ceremony to realise what he really wanted?
I probably would have ignored it if it wasn't for everything I said before this.
Also in the show, Akshay's mom visibly pressurises him to get married. If she wasn't ready to budge on television (where she could easily say things even they're not true), how come suddenly she was okay with what Akshay wanted? I have my doubts, yes.
8. Where is Sima Aunty?
Why was she not a part of the bonus episode? She was as much a part of the process and perhaps, more viral than any of the other people in the show.
We know she is a matchmaker for sure, because of A Suitable Girl on Netflix. But is she really as famous as Indian Matchmaking portrayed her to be?
9. Raise your hand if you thought the bonus episode was awkward AF
Because I totally did. Dolly Singh was awkward and super abrupt in so many parts. She claimed to be representing the people of the internet and all the questions they have but honestly, Dolly didn't do us justice. There was no cross-questioning, no grilling, NOTHING! Almost as if she was reading from a script.
Even the participants (I'm looking at you Akshay) looked like they'd had a proper prep sesh with the PR and carefully made pointers of exactly what they wanted to say.
Man, I was disappointed as heck.
10. Guru and Vinay as cautionary tales
We know that Vinay's interaction with Nadia was sort of manipulated. Even Guru has revealed that his date with Nadia was not as authentically portrayed.
Makes you wonder about how much of Indian Matchmaking was actually real, you know?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)