What's Behind
When Naga Chaitanya and Sekhar Kammula teamed for the first time and Sai Pallavi entered the scene, everyone expected magic. Riding high on Fidaa's success, Sekhar Kammula named the film Love Story. Its progress has been followed closely by movie lovers and the promotions generated immense interest. The song Saranga Dariya rose the expectations to another level. With the likes of Chiranjeevi, Aamir Khan, Mahesh Babu, and Prabhas promoting the film, movie lovers thronged theatres on the day of Love Story release today. Let us see whether Love Story lived up to the expectations and what magic it created.
Story Review
Revanth (Naga Chaitanya) who is raised by his mother (Easwaru Rao) to attain success so that they won't be discriminated against due to their sect and caste, runs a Zumba Centre in Hyderabad. He has big plans to develop the center and applies for a loan. At the same time, Monica (Sai Pallavi), hailing from a rich and affluent family in Armur, comes to Hyderabad to search for a software job. Monica however couldn't get a job due to her anxiety problems. Revanth and Monica have the common talent to turn Zumba center into a successful one. To find out whether they join hands, where their journey leads to, what obstacles they face, and how police officer (Uttej), Monica's uncle ( Rajeev Kanakala), her mother (Devayani) are connected, enjoy Love Story in the theatres.
Artists, Technicians Review
Sekhar Kammula is known for his youthful, Genex, feel-good, sensitive, and though proving entertainers. He tried to touch all of them in his Love Story showcasing Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi and the entire cast in completely different roles. He starts the narration in a smooth manner showing the childhood of Naga Chaitanya and how his mother raised him establishing his character strongly. Right after that he established the character of Monica as a girl who wishes to achieve something in life (become a software engineer) but suffers from anxiety issues. He connected the dots very well and left no loose ends.
The first half has all the youthful elements and sails off smoothly. At the same time, Sekhar kammula subtly prepared the viewers what he wanted to discuss as the main theme. The first half ends on an entertaining note with songs, dances, youthful elements, and the beautiful chemistry between Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi, and the family sentiments of Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi. The Interval twist is ok. The second half turns a bit serious with more focus on Rajeev Kanakala and the caste and religion elements coming to the forefront. The entertainment element is reduced but pre-climax generates interest. The climax ends in a powerful manner.
Sekhar Kammula has taken his own sweet time to narrate the entire Love Story. The pace of the film is the same throughout but with entertainment taking the forefront in the first half, viewers do not feel the drag but with seriousness creeping in in the second half, they feel restless in the second half. Sekhar Kammula deftly touched upon the caste differences, low and high class, and also brought in the religious angle. Apart from that the highlighted child molestation and rape case. Though he touched upon so many aspects, nowhere did he turn preachy. He highlighted all of them in a powerful manner. However with him highlighting them only at the pre-climax of the film, one may feel they are forced upon. Had he touched upon them subtly here and there from the start, it would have been even more interesting. Sekhar Kammula's story is ok and the screenplay and direction are good.
Naga Chaitanya took his acting to another level. Be it the Telangana accent or the body language as a struggling youngster from the low case, he showcased his feelings in an impactful manner. He made his presence felt on the screen with his impressive expressions and emotions and mostly carried the film on his shoulders. Sai Pallavi performed the role of a bubbly girl who silently suffers from mental trauma after she was forced upon in her childhood. She showed good expressions and emotions and her dances are dazzling. She danced like a dream and her chemistry with Naga Chaitanya is beautiful. The choreographer should be complimented for elevating her dances to another level. Rajeev Kanakala surprises with his power-packed performance. He showed different expressions and the surprise angle shocks all. Devayani as Sai Pallavi's mother is good. Easwari Rao as Naga Chaitanya's mother made her presence felt with her body language and dialogue delivery. Others performed according to their roles.
Pawan CH's music is beautiful, youthful, and foot-tapping. All the songs are beautifully filmed. Saranga Dariya song had a lot of expectations and one felt it could have been shot even better. The cinematography of Vijay J Kumar is beautiful. He used the camera angles to turn the film into a colorful one. He captured the scenic locations in a realistic and natural manner. Editing of Marthand K Venkatesh is good. He maintained the same tempo throughout the film. However had he trimmed it, it would have made a better impact. Production values are top class.
Advantages
Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi's performance
Cinematography
BGM
Dialogues
Disadvantages
Slow Pace
Editing
Rating Analysis
Sekhar Kammula's Love Story featuring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi released amidst huge expectations. Sekhar Kammula touched upon various issues like caste, religion, child rape, etc without crossing the thin redline but embedding them perfectly in a youthful love story. Except for the pace of the narration, Sekhar Kammula emerged successful in creating a magic attracting movie lovers with Love Story. Considering all these elements, CJ goes with a 3.0 rating for Love Story.