Love

Story: Deepthi has just received the good news that she's going to be a mother, but things are not great in her marriage to Anoop. Will the couple emerge with a happy solution or will things just keep going downhill?

Review: What would you do when you are caught in a marital discord?

According to a friend of the protagonist in Love, there will be at least one instance in every married person's life when they have thought of ending it all - either through divorce or with a murder. It can be a delusional fantasy that you enjoy for a second and then, you come to terms with reality and try to sort it out with sense and morale.

Khalid Rahman's lockdown special is an intriguing thriller that talks about the love that can turn to hate in a marriage and how a couple tries to wriggle out of the trust issues they are going through.

The film opens when Deepthi (Rajisha Vijayan), who has been trying to conceive, hears the news from her doctor that she is two months pregnant. She doesn’t seem so happy with the 'good news'. Her husband Anoop (Shine Tom Chacko) too is disturbed and is gearing up for a drink at home. As the film goes forward, we get to know the reasons for Deepthi's unhappiness and Anoop's distress. There are issues between them, but when Anoop tries to solve the problems of his friends, one who is in deep debt due to business failure and the other one who is involved in an extramarital relationship with his business partner's wife, he gets deeper into trouble. Is he seeing himself through the other two?

Love is a thriller that transports you; where all of a sudden your life stops existing and you become part of the other side of the canvas. There is an intimacy towards the characters as you get to see them captured by Jimshi Khalid through medium and close up shots. The music also serves to keep you riveted to the plot. Above all, the characters by Shine Tom Chacko, Rajisha Vijayan, Gokulan and Sudhi Koppa do magic on frames. The well-drafted script, dialogues, beautifully planned set design and sound doesn’t put you in a claustrophobic feel that a movie shot just inside an apartment during the lockdown following all the safety protocols, is expected to cause.

There is thrill, suspense and layers of relationship in the film. Also violence, that is neatly captured; while watching one should remind oneself that domestic violence - be it to your wife or to your husband - can be enjoyable to watch on screen and be a means of catharsis but in reality it is crime.

Malayalam cinema has always overcome difficulties through brilliance in script and making films by blending innovations and technology. Here Khalid Rahman and team come with a testimonial - cinema will survive even if we are confined within our four walls. Here you can get an adrenaline rush with a movie shot inside an apartment.