Love Today Released as a small film, Love Today directed and acted by young filmmaker Pradeep Ranganath emerged as a blockbuster success in Tamil. The film’s Telugu dubbed version has hit the silver screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: After being in love for a while, to take their relationship to next level, Pradeep( Pradeep Ranganath) and Nikita(Ivana) reveal their love matter to Nikita’s father Venu Shastri ( Sathyaraj). Being a sly and orthodox person, Venu keeps a condition to exchange their phones for one day and if they don’t have issues by the end of the day he will say yes to their wedding. Thinking of it as a small thing, the young couple says yes to exchange their phones for a day. What happens further in their lives? Will the couple be able to maintain their relationship? To know that, you have to watch the film in the theaters near you.
Performances: Pradeep Ranganath did the lead role effortlessly. The way he carried the youthful character is amazing and creates a solid impact. Young beauty Ivana also did her part perfectly. Especially, her acting in the emotional scenes brings depth to the proceedings. The chemistry between them is explored nicely.
Sathyaraj gets a purposeful role as heroine’s father. His acting brings depth to the key proceedings. Radhika Sharathkumar shines in her middle-class mother role. The scenes between her and Pradeep are engaging throughout.
Padding artists such as Raveena, Finally Bharath, Adithya Kathir, Aajeedh Khalique, Vijay Varadaraj, and Akshaya Udayakumar are apt in their respective roles.
Technicalities: There is no exaggeration in saying that Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is the backbone of this new-age romantic drama. Be it songs or background score, Yuvan gave what the film needed. In one word, His tunes and score elevate the soul of the film.
The photography work by Dinesh Purushothaman is cool and composed. His lighting setup and frames add colorful texture to the screen. Editing by Pradeep E Ragav is okay but would have trimmed ten minutes of the first half to make things even more gripping. Other departments such as art, and costumes did their jobs perfectly.
Analysis: Pradeep Ranganath did an outstanding job as a screenwriter, director, and actor. The way he narrated this new-age love story by interlinking the proceedings with social media and available technology is crazy and he should be appreciated for it. The Telugu version dialogues and dubbing work is done superbly.
On the flip side, the film takes its own sweet time establishing characters. Due to the same, the first twenty minutes look dull with a flat narrative. Adding to it, the hatred arguments between the lead pair after exchanging mobiles would have been showcased in an even better way by reducing beep words from the hero angel.
To summarize, Love Today is an enjoyable youthful love drama that has a fresh setup, good performances, and a largely gripping presentation. Except for a few dull moments in the first half, the film is engaging throughout and makes it a much-watch during this weekend.
Verdict: Must-watch youthful love drama!
Rating: 3/5
