Review: True Lover

Headline: A Modern love story with minor flaws

Plot:

Arun, portrayed by Tamil actor Manikandan, and Divya (Sri Gouri Priya), have shared a relationship for several years. However, when Arun uncovers Divya`s repeated dishonesty in trivial matters, he resorts to gaslighting and emotional manipulation. His frustration and uncomfortable demeanor lead Divya to sporadically cut off contact with him. The relationship spirals into a cycle of temporary separations and apologies. Will Arun undergo a transformation? Will Divya come to terms with his imperfections? These questions form the crux of the climax.

Performances:

Manikandan and Sri Gouri Priya are convincing throughout. Most of the time, they look like commoners from their age group. Gouri Priya is the average IT employee who looks like the techie-next-door when she chills out and hangs out with friends. Manikandan is slightly cinematic in some scenes.

Kanna Ravi is seen as a vlogger with a social media following. Harini Sundararajan`s character is shown without having any motives and that`s how it should be. Saravanan and Geetha Kailasam are seen as Arun`s parents.

Technical Departments:

1. Music: Sean Ronaldon`s songs are average.

2. Cinematography: Shreyaas Krishna`s talent shows.

3. Editing: Barath Vikraman`s cuts are not jarring.

Analysis:

Tamil films have long ceased to generate love stories and relationship dramas that feel real. Without a doubt, our movies like `Baby` and `Sita Ramam` will outrank Kollywood movies on every front in recent years. Tamil cinema music has been suffering, their writing has been artificial/formulaic, and their characterizations have been unexciting to the Telugu audience.

`True Lover`, the dubbed version of `Lover`, is a whiff of fresh air by a distance. It is bereft of some feared Kollywoodian idiosyncrasies for the most part. There are no segments (barring one, which is discussed under the `Demerits` section) where it feels like director Prabhuram Vyas is compulsively Kollywoodian.

It`s refreshing that the tone and themes of `True Lover` diverge significantly from those of `Baby`. While the characters in `Baby` were teenagers, the protagonists in this film are depicted as either established in their careers or striving towards a promising professional path.

Merits:

1. The chemistry between the lead pair.

2. No forced elements.

3. The way the story takes off is interesting.

4. The conversations don`t overstay their welcome.

5. No silly plot turns for the sake of convenience.

Demerits:

1. Some of the traits exhibited by Arun in the Gokarna episode and the tone of the scenes might be fun to a good chunk of audiences. But, frankly put, the writing plays to the gallery. It is as if the director wants to show the unemployed protagonist as somehow superior or more desirable than the rest. He is not.

2. The love-hate-love dynamics between the lead pair could have been written with more care.

Rating: 2.75