Love Under Construction review: Neeraj Madhav builds on Vishnu Raghav's solid comedy-drama series

3/5

Love Under Construction plot

Vinod is an NRI youth who returns to his home state of Kerala with the dream of building a home and also getting married to his girlfriend Gouri. But once the Malayali youth lands in Kerala, the reality hits hard as he struggles to fulfil his dreams

Love Under Construction review

In Love Under Construction trailer, Neeraj Madhav’s Vinod posed an interesting question - “What would happen if Lalettan's Mithunam and Varavelupu occurred at once?” That fictional crossover of two of Mohanlal’s popular movies gets an upgrade in 2025 with Love Under Construction as a Malayali NRI youth goes all out to build his dream home, that proves to be a 'third wheel' in his relationship with Gouri played by Gouri G Kishan. Though the lead pair are chic youths of today, the problems that Vinod face are akin to those of Mohanlal’s characters from running pillars to posts for getting documents to dealing with shady workers.

Vaashi director Vishnu Raghav has helmed this 6-episode series, which through Vinod’s tale also humourously showcases the travails of any person in Kerala who attempts to build a house of their own. The first couple of episodes breeze through as the lead actors of Vinod, Gouri and Pappettan (Aju Varghese) are introduced, and the makers set a good foundation for the Malayalam web series on JioHotstar.

Saiju Kurup's Jai Mahendran series on SonyLiv took us through the functioning of a tehsildar’s office, while Sharaf U Dheen and Nithya Menen's Masterpeace on JioHotstar circled around a married couple. Love Under Construction straddles both worlds quite effectively as the series shows the workings of a construction sector and a registrar’s office.

Also read - Jai Mahendran Review: Saiju Kurup’s web series is a humourous take on modern-day Indian politics and system

Director Vishnu Raghav, who has also penned the series, pokes fun at ‘thanta vibe’ (Gen Z term to refer to old-school people) of Malayali men who still grumble on seeing women in shorts or having a smoke and one character even brings up The Great Indian Kitchen.

Despite all the advancements in technology and buzzing WhatsApp groups, surveillance by neighbours and ‘well-wishers’ is still an active practice in Kerala and is a running thread in the series.

Creative producers opting for the medium for series to narrate their stories mean that women and other side characters too get their own character arcs and do not merely exist to take the hero’s story forward.

However, a woman apologizing to a man, after putting up a strong front initially, was disappointing to note in a series after all the attempts by the makers to break the stereotypical notions about women. Though it is relevant to the plot’s development, the makers could have given a better treatment to the 'small' scene.

That apart, the comedy-drama series chugs along almost smoothly aided by a solid script, and the natural performances of its lead stars. Neeraj Madhav, who has already made an impression in the digital world with Hindi series such as The Family Man, makes a solid start in the Malayalam OTT space too. He plays Vinod with the right amount of comedy and emotions.

Gouri, who was seen in Malayalam and Tamil movies, is perfect in a character with her own name. She echoes the thoughts of today’s women, whether in terms of attire or the viewpoints.

Aju Varghese is effortless as cousin Papettan, with shades of thantha vibe. The makers did not forget to humanise the role of Anand Manmadhan, even as he plays Jiji, the dodgy contractor. Ann Jameela Saleem along with Manjusree Nair and Kiran Peethambaran, among others, also ably support the lead characters. The Malayalam web series, with each episode of around 30 minutes, is produced by M Renjith who is also backing Mohanlal's Thudarum. 

Love Under Construction verdict

Love Under Construction offers a light-hearted entertainer led by Neeraj Madhav, Gouri G Kishan and Aju Varghese. Vishnu Raghav's Malayalam web series brings a refreshing take on today's relationship and life goals.

Love Under Construction is streaming on JioHotstar in several languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.