The only way to make the familiar love stories work is to present them as an entertaining amalgamation of three elements in particular. An adorable lead couple, pleasing catchy music, and a twist that hits the viewers hard, coming unexpectedly.
Love Story, directed by Sekhar Kammula, exactly does the same, incorporating the important elements in three different sections of the film, resulting in a fairly entertaining watch. In the first section, we get to see the childhood of a boy living with his mother, questioning the caste division in society. Post the long introduction, we get to meet the young boy (Naga Chaitanya) running his dance/fitness classes on the terrace of a rented floor. He gets attracted towards a girl (Sai Pallavi) visiting one of his students living next door and the love story begins after spending a good long time on these intros.
The best part of the film begins once Pallavi performs in the rain, in front of Chaitanya and his students, winning hearts. The foot-tapping music and pleasant songs add a lot to the proceedings and one feels great watching Pallavi dancing like a dream, expressing on every beat of the tracks so effortlessly. Sadly, the narrative becomes a drag once the lovebirds get serious, thinking about their inter-caste relationship and its complications. Besides, a few sequences shot with computer graphics easily get caught, bringing in disappointment.
Restlessness is felt watching this middle section of the film, till the focus gets shifted to a shocking twist pointing towards sexual harassment of girls and the lack of dialogue between the kids and their parents.
Though this unpredictable concluding segment leaves a powerful impact, it also comes with its share of less convincing and hurriedly conceived writing, ending on an abrupt note. A love story revolving around an inter-caste marriage of two talented individuals didn’t require any open, artistic kind of culmination to be straight. The forced and unrequired inclusion sadly remains the reason one doesn’t feel like having seen something exceptional in the end.
Overall, Love Story isn’t any Sairat (the Marathi blockbuster), but it still works largely because of its lead couple, their spirited acts, the excellent dance performances, the pleasing music, and a sensible, thought-provoking twist transforming it into a socially relevant film. However, it certainly would have been much more impactful in a shorter duration, with some better writing towards the climax, avoiding the abrupt end.
Rating : 3 / 5
(Streaming at Aha)
Bobby Sing
(bobbytalkscinema.com)
NOTE : The article was first published in THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Newspaper (Mumbai Edition) on 2nd November 2021
