Love Marriage movie review: Vikram Prabhu’s film is a neatly done family drama that plays it too safe

Love Marriage plot:

Ramachandran (Vikram Prabhu) is 33 years old and past his prime as he desperately wants to get married. His family finally settled for an alliance even as they look down upon the bride’s side for coming from a caste lower than theirs. With no other choice, Ramachandran and family goes to bride Ambika’s (Sushmita Bhat) village for engagement, only for a twist that they didn’t expect to happen.

Love Marriage review

Even before watching Ramachandran’s story unfold, we are briefed about the societal evolution of marriage. From a man and woman being together for the love they have, to evolving into a species for whom marriage is everything but a romantic union of two individuals. It has become a business, status symbol, timestamp, pride, checkbox, norm and what not. In short and as per the film’s words, ‘kalyanam kadhalaku illa, kaalatha ku’ stressing how marriage has become timebound and not love-bound.

On that note, we enter the life of Ramachandran, a 33-year-old man whose only aim is settle down. It is not because he is any lesser that we see him single in his 30s, but because he has rejected every possible woman in his prime, that now he is okay to get married to anyone. His family too, is dejected that he has rejected all the alliances within their caste that now they have to resort to and adjust taking a bride from a lowered caste. Is it a subtle commentary on that a woman from an oppressed caste the least desirable women in the society or men from the upper caste still hover a privilege over them? That is a topic for another day, as we see Ramachandran, his parents, pregnant sister, and some of his overtly assertive relatives accompany him to the bride’s house. What follows is a family drama that is customised to an Indian household where a little inconvenience can be the root cause to a larger argument. And the same happens in Love Marriage too where the families, despite being an arranged marriage, are not in tandem with each other.

Also read: Love Marriage trailer out: Vikram Prabhu’s misery as groom struggling with late marriage promises fun

A remake of Telugu film Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam, Love Marriage keeps the essence same and there isn’t much deviation. But there isn’t much new and refreshing either. Ramachandra and Ambika’s union is arranged and expected of elders, but not by the audience for their scenes seem forged. Sure, Ambika has other plans but for the film to work in its favour, its rooting needs to be strong. Ambika, who is shown reserved and uninterested, takes you away from wanting the marriage to happen. So, when the twist comes and so does the interval block, that is something you had always thought so.

The title itself is a word play on the story about two families embarking on an arranged marriage for their respective wards. Love Marriage seldom concentrates on exploring the wants of the individuals and looms over the little inconveniences to blow it big to make conflicts move for each scene. For example, a relative who constantly puts down the bride’s family and never misses a chance to create a ruckus, becomes a recurring pattern and turns out to be overdone.

But Love Marriage is not all bad either. It somewhere wants to stick safe to its source material, and when the film gets into talking about the love in marriage, elements such as a fight sequence at a market and a song break, makes it fall into typical commercial cinema that relies on outdated elements.

Love Marriage verdict

Love Marriage is a middling narrative which majorly scores for its neat execution and good performances. It is honest in its making and source material, but lacks in giving anything beyond that. Sure, it is a film that you can watch with your families, feel not dejected, and perhaps come out with a smile. But surely it could have explored a lot more by going into the depths of intricacies that a local roots could have offered.