Love Story - Movie Review

Over the last few months, movie watching experience has changed drastically owing to the pandemic. With cinemas shut, OTTs became our entertainment destinations. Now that theatres are opening again, one needed a good reason to take the risk and be back in theatres. And what better reason than a Sekhar Kammula – Sai Pallavi film (after the stupendous success of Fidaa, 2017). Add a not so conventional lead pair, Naga Chaitanya, and you have created enough intrigue to get your seats filled. But, does Sekhar Kammula’s much-awaited ‘Love Story’ deliver on its hype and expectations? I would say it almost does, but misses the mark by a whisker!

Set in modern day Secunderabad, Love Story begins with the harsh childhood of the protagonist, Revanth, raised by his widowed mother (Eashwari Rao) in Armoor, Nizamabad. Right from his childhood, Revanth and his mom internalise caste discrimination and accept it as their reality, just as many of the lower castes in this country have. Strong-willed and hard-working, Revanth grows up to be an ambitious and industrious young man. The adult Revanth (Naga Chaitanya) lives in Secunderabad and runs a modest Zumba centre, resolute to expand and grow his business. Equally ambitious and determined, small-town-girl Mounica (Sai Pallavi) comes to Hyderabad with the quintessential ‘software dream’. Unlike Revanth, Mounica belongs to an upper-caste family. But, hailing from a small-town, with a not-so-great academic background, Mouni (as she is fondly called) struggles to get a job. As fate would have it, their paths cross and Mouni joins Revanth, first as his business partner and then the ‘Love Story’ begins.

The story, screenplay, dialogues and the direction are by Sekhar Kammula, just as most of his previous movies, largely making it a one man show behind the camera. Like most of his previous films, he gives us strong-willed, righteous and independent lead characters, especially the female leads. Much like Rupa in Anand (2004), Sita in Godavari (2006) or most-recently as Bhanumathi in Fidaa (2017), Mounica is the driving force in the movie. And such strong characters have become Sekhar Kammula’s trademark and something we all love. But, unlike his earlier outings, Mr. Kammula has attempted to skim through multiple themes in a single movie. On a larger canvas, he starts to paint the film in the tones of caste-based discrimination, societal divide and the fights for one’s ambitions. On a micro level, he also touches his canvas with lighter strokes of gender inequality, child abuse and communal oppression. These are quite diverse topics and inter-weaving them seamlessly is a daunting task, which Mr. Kammula tries commendably, especially in a mainstream film. But I wish these themes were tied together better, instead of mildly feeling like a confused concoction as the movie jumps from one social evil to the other.

This reminds me of the review of Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019) by film critic Sucharita Tyagi (Film Companion). Gully Boy touches many a societal evil and passes strong commentary on them, effortlessly! Ms. Tyagi describes this as “Watching Gully Boy is like seeing a European Renaissance painting, where each stroke & shade of colour speaks a different story”. And this kind of finesse is what I really craved for in Love Story. Not just Zoya Akhtar, but there are many directors today who delivered on effectively stitching together multiple unconnected themes in a single movie, such as Venkatesh Maha in C/O Kancherapalem (2018), Alankrita Srivastava in Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016), Vetrimaran in Asuran (2019), Amit Masurkar in Newton (2017) & Sherni (2021) and Nagaraj Manjule in his Marathi movies, especially Sairat (2016). Mr. Kammula’s efforts must surely be applauded, with hopes of a better-stitched movie the next time.

Sairat, an ill-fated love story between an upper caste girl and a lower caste boy, comes closest to the central theme of Love Story. So does the recent sleeper-hit, Uppena (2021). But what Love Story brings to fore in mainstream Telugu cinema is its honest and real performances. Among the supporting cast – Eashwari Rao as Revanth’s mother, delivers a warm and endearing performance. Rajeev Kanakala, as the evil upper-caste uncle to Mouni, is effective in a negative role. Naga Chaitanya is good as the boy yearning for a breakthrough and delivers a commendable performance, devoid of toxic masculinity. He acts well, though he seems a bit woody in the emotional scenes. Sai Pallavi, yet again, is a scene-stealing, natural performer. Be it her raw comic timing, emotional scenes or flawless dance performances, she is an outstanding asset to the film and Mr. Kammula utilises her full potential. (Though I didn’t quite buy that a Nizamabad-bred girl dances flawlessly on contemporary dance forms without any training :P – cinematic liberty, I suppose) And yes, both the leads & most of the cast gets their Telangana accent right. 😊

Love Story may be flawed, but it does pick up some right conversations in mainstream Telugu cinema. Unlike Uppena, where the caste divide was largely muted, Love Story brings the divide more into focus – including the caste-based difference in places to get one’s haircut to the places where one is laid to rest! It also gives us a warm and endearing love story shrouded by various societal problems. I just wished it all came together a little more seamlessly.

You can watch Love Story in theatres.

My Rating – 3/5