Khalid Rahman, the director of critically-acclaimed Unda (that presented mega star Mammootty in a complete makeover) and Anuraga Karikkin Vellam (that fetched Rajisha Vijayan her state film award on debut), has come up with another flick - Love – that delves into complicated family issues.
Shot during the lockdown in a flat in Kochi in 20-days, the movie was released in the Gulf countries in October 2020. It thus set a record of sorts for being the first Malayalam film to be released during the Covid-19 pandemic outside India.
The early trends had back then suggested that the Malayali diaspora in the Gulf gave the record-setter' a miss because of the lingering fear of the pandemic.
As the first Malayalam movie after a tense lockdown, I expected that it will soothe the nerves of people who have been going through a harrowing time. The title too suggested that it surely will have a romantic twist.
However, the movie begins with a 'murder'. It is followed by a slew of incidents in the lives of Anoop (Shine Tom Chacko ) and Deepti (Rajisha Vijayan).
Deepti knows that she is pregnant with Anoop but is unhappy. There are layers to the relationships in the film and director Khalid Rahman, with his lockdown experimentation within the four walls of an aprtment focuses on how love can turn to hate in a marriage.
The film offers many thrilling moments throughout while narrating the complications arising out of extra-marital affairs. It tells about the agonies of Anoop's friends, taking the movie into an exciting climax. What makes the movie quite interesting is the portrayal of dark shades of all the characters.
Love touches upon many social issues too with a tinge of black humour.
All the actors have done exceptionally well. Sudhi Koppa, who acts as Anoop's friend, needs a special mention.
(Hash Javad is a UAE-based digital content creator, PR strategist and media manager and watched the movie at the Novo Mega Mall in UAE when the film had a GCC release )