Bytwo Love movie review: Dhanveerraah and Sreeleela’s romantic drama makes a mockery of ‘adopt and don’t shop’

2/5

Story: Balu (Dhanveerraah) and Leelu (Sreeleela) go from hating the concepts of love, marriage and kids to fully embracing all of it, but not in the conventional way one would expect.

Review: I have to be honest; I am at a complete loss of words after watching director Hari Santhosh’s supposedly different romantic drama, Bytwo Love . What was that? Initially, it felt like a regular boy-meets-girl, they fight and then fall in love story, which it is to a large extent. But there has to be some drama leading to that as well, right? So, there’s Balu leaving his home in anger after his father welcomes a child with his second wife and Leelu hitch-hiking her way from the village she is at to Bengaluru, after her mother ‘puts her in place’ for actually speaking the truth about her wayward brother. There are also multiple scenes that justify a man beating a woman, because, you see, it all boils down to preserving the hallowed concept of ‘masculinity’. Sigh!

Much of the comedy in the film is also improper, so they get Sadhu Kokila to do the job. As the man running the matrimonial office Balu and Leelu work at, he gets a ‘sexy’ assistant whose pallu drops and puts enough skin on show. You get the drift of where I am going with this, right? When will filmmakers grow up and present humour that does not involve objectifying a woman?

But let’s now come to the biggest problem of Bytwo Love. In all the promotional material of the film, the team had spoken at length about the importance of the child in the tale. Balu and Leelu’s idea of trying to see if they would be compatible as a couple and be good parents is to ‘shop and not adopt’. Yes, you heard that right and if that isn’t ridiculous enough, they name the child they obtained through illegal means Puppy. Honestly, I still can’t wrap my head around this plot point that Hari Santhosh said was the film’s biggest USP. In his cameo as an orphanage warden, Ram Manjjonaath is the only sensible one threatening to call the cops on this couple that wants a child on a trial-and-error basis, which they can return if not compatible. But then, they go ahead with their plan when a child is offered to them for money. Really!!! What is the message here, Santhosh? How can any of this be justified and swept under the carpet because Balu and Leelu actually get attached to the baby?

Amid all this, there’s Dhanveerraah and Sreeleela, who actually make a cute onscreen couple. Barring a few mandatory mass hero scenes and lines for Dhanveerraah, he’s quite likeable, as is Sreeleela. But that isn’t enough to sell this ridiculous tale.

Verdict: The song ‘I Hate Love’ from the film is still ringing in my ears, only with a change in lyrics – I hate Bytwo Love. That about sums up what I think about this film. I leave it up to the audience to decide if they still want to go ahead and watch this.