‘Must Date The Playboy’ (2026) Netflix Series Review - A Familiar Romance With Familiar Problems

Fake dating is one of those romantic comedy premises that television keeps returning to, largely because it offers an easy route into romantic complications. Two people agree to pretend to be together, their arrangement gradually becomes difficult to maintain, and feelings begin to develop where neither person expected them. The formula is familiar enough that audiences can often anticipate the destination long before the characters get there. Must Date the Playboy, directed by T. Suriavelan, takes this approach into a college setting, building its story around friendship, romantic pretences and the complications of falling for someone who initially seems entirely unsuitable.

The story follows Tara (Chandni Nagadurga), a shy young woman who decides to protect her friend Kaushi when the latter develops an interest in Zayn (Muzammil Elias), a notorious serial dater. Tara's solution is to enter a fake relationship with Zayn, although the arrangement comes with complications of its own. Both have hidden intentions, and what begins as a plan to protect a friendship gradually becomes a more complicated emotional situation. The familiar distinction between pretending to care and actually developing feelings provides the central romantic conflict.

I can understand the appeal of this setup, particularly in a youth-oriented series. College is a setting where relationships often become intertwined with friendships, social expectations, and questions of identity. A romantic decision rarely affects only the two people involved; it can change the dynamics of an entire friendship group. Tara's decision is therefore more interesting when considered in relation to Kaushi than as a straightforward attempt to get closer to Zayn. She is acting out of loyalty, but that loyalty places her in a situation where her own feelings and intentions may become increasingly difficult to manage.

The central character contrast is also straightforward. Tara is shy and relatively reserved, while Zayn has the reputation of someone who approaches relationships casually. This difference provides the obvious source of friction, but it also creates an opportunity to examine how people behave when they are forced to look beyond the impressions they have formed of one another. Someone's reputation may be based on genuine behaviour, incomplete information or a version of themselves they have deliberately cultivated. A relationship that begins with pretence can expose those contradictions, provided the writing gives the characters enough individuality.

My reservation is that the series is working with a romantic formula that requires considerable attention to characterisation. The fake relationship itself is not particularly original, and the idea of a shy girl gradually changing the outlook of a popular playboy has appeared in countless coming-of-age romances. There is nothing wrong with revisiting familiar dynamics, but the writing needs to give them a specific emotional context. Tara should be more than the reserved girl who eventually discovers her confidence, and Zayn should be more than the serial dater who turns out to have a softer side. Without that additional complexity, the relationship risks following a predictable sequence of misunderstandings, jealousy, and eventual emotional honesty.

The friendship storyline is potentially the more interesting element. Tara's initial motivation involves protecting Kaushi, which creates a conflict between romantic feelings and personal loyalty. It raises a question that many youth dramas touch upon but do not always explore properly: how much should someone compromise their own emotional well-being for a friend? Friendship can involve difficult decisions, particularly when romantic interests overlap. A story that takes those complications seriously could offer something more substantial than the usual love-triangle arrangement. I would have liked the series to give this relationship equal importance rather than treating it merely as the mechanism that brings Tara and Zayn together.

The ensemble cast includes Mazhaimegan, Ganga Kannan, Pragadesh Prakash, Puravalan Narayanasamy, Saravannan Gautham, Meera Subramaniam and Jaenani Chadagoban. Their presence gives the series room to develop a broader college environment, with friendships and individual romantic interests extending beyond the central pair. That is important for a story of this kind. A college romance becomes more engaging when the surrounding characters have their own concerns and personalities, rather than existing solely to offer advice, create misunderstandings or push the protagonists towards one another.

The series is based on a web novel by Imma Delos Santos, and that origin is worth considering. Stories that begin on online fiction platforms often build their appeal around recognisable romantic archetypes, accessible emotional conflicts and a steady progression of relationship developments. Those qualities can translate effectively to television, especially for an audience that enjoys extended romantic storytelling. At the same time, adaptation requires decisions about pacing and narrative structure. A story that works as episodic online fiction does not automatically become a tightly constructed television drama. With 28 episodes, Must Date the Playboy has considerable space to develop its characters, but that length also creates the risk of stretching a relatively simple romantic premise across too many instalments.

This is where I would be most cautious about the series. A fake-dating story has a natural point of tension: how long can the characters maintain the arrangement before their real feelings become impossible to ignore? Once that question has been established, the narrative needs new sources of conflict that do not simply repeat the same emotional misunderstandings. Otherwise, the relationship can begin to feel as though it is moving in circles. I prefer romantic dramas that allow their characters to make meaningful decisions, even when those decisions create uncomfortable consequences. Endless delays and avoidable miscommunication can make a romance feel longer without making it deeper.

There is also the question of what the series wants to say about its titular playboy. The label itself is an easy shorthand for a particular kind of male character, but it can become limiting if the writing relies too heavily on the contrast between his public reputation and his private personality. A more interesting character would have motivations that extend beyond simply learning to commit to one person. Similarly, Tara's development should not be measured only by whether she succeeds in changing him. Her own ambitions, boundaries, and understanding of relationships deserve attention independently of the romance.

Ultimately, Must Date the Playboy has the ingredients of an accessible youth romance, and its central premise should be easy enough to follow. The connection between Tara's loyalty to her friend and her growing involvement with Zayn offers a useful emotional starting point. However, the series is entering a genre where familiarity can quickly become a disadvantage. The fake-dating device, the contrasting personalities, and the prospect of unexpected feelings are all well-established conventions. What matters is whether the characters and their relationships develop enough individuality to make those conventions worthwhile.

Final Score- [6/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times