It may sound crazy but I think that if reviewers can call this "an ode to love" or "a poignant tale of one-sided love", I think we might as well address the problem with the kind of love we see in films. It's either stalking or simping. Ram, the protagonist in 96 fell in love with Jaanu while in high school. She too falls in love with him. Ram is forced to move to a different town, thereby breaking the connection. They meet over two decades later. Jaanu is happily married while Ram is still single, still a virgin and has never loved any woman or attempted to date any woman other than Jaanu. He somehow thinks that he's fine with not loving again or even feel the company of a woman again.
In the present timeline, Ram is a photographer and his alienated approach to life and women piques an interest in a photography student who accompanies him on his travelogues. This then might be the only shot Ram can have at love. But, in a later scene, Jaanu meets her and spins a yarn as to how they fell in love and got married. So, to put it simply, Jaanu realises that the student had an interest in the mentor and decided to nix it. This then is the greatest ode to Incel culture and simping.
In the present timeline, Ram is a photographer and his alienated approach to life and women piques an interest in a photography student who accompanies him on his travelogues. This then might be the only shot Ram can have at love. But, in a later scene, Jaanu meets her and spins a yarn as to how they fell in love and got married. So, to put it simply, Jaanu realises that the student had an interest in the mentor and decided to nix it. This then is the greatest ode to Incel culture and simping.