Lover's Day - Movie Review

'Lovers Day', starring Priya Prakash Varrier, Roshan Abdul Rahoof and Noorin Shereef, has been released as a Valentine's Day special. Let's find out what works and what doesn't work in this dubbed outing.  

Story:

Major portions of the movie unfold within the premises of a Higher Secondary School where almost all the important characters study.  Priya (Priya Prakash Varrier) and Roshan (Roshan Mohammed) have love at first sight. They have small fights and even though Priya loves the guy, she refuses to say so. 

Roshan has an all-weather friend named Gadha John (Noorin Shereef), who plays a Cupid at times. The bunch of friends, both boys and girls, have their doses of teenage romance inside the campus. The story takes a turn when an incident leads to breakup of Priya and Roshan.

Analysis

“Lover’s Day”, Telugu dubbed version of Malayalam film, ‘Oru Adaar Love’, has attracted attention as it stars the national crush Priya Varrier, who became an overnight star with her wink act. The film, however, treads on routine manner. It is typical coming-of-age drama that we have seen in many films.

'Lovers Day' is a travesty on several fronts. 

The campus film throws away inherent advantages to the winds. The comedy is so outdated that it actually is second-rate. A dull student falling for a saree-clad teacher, a teacher who thinks he is a talented singer but is actually a dud. Who on earth is excited to watch such '90s era ideas?  

The film royally reduces every other character into a caricature. Even Priya and Roshan don't get to attain unique dimensions. The audience finds it hard to empathize with the love story blossoming in the lives of Priya and Roshan. Things become so dreary that even the 'wink act' and the lip-to-lip kiss fail to trigger excitement.  

We see late legendary actress Sridevi's image on a screen. All of a sudden, the boys and girls start crying. This is one of the most artificial tributes any legend anywhere in the world has ever got.

The junior vs senior cliches are also there. The fat-shaming of a boy, how he finds escape in friendship, etc are all old ideas.

The climax is typically 'Premisthe' type heaviness. Plot is nearly absent and the theme is a beaten to death one. The scenes are random and the narration lacks a smooth flow. The idea of triangular love fails to move us emotionally.  

Priya Varrier is a beauty. She is good but doesn’t get much space in this story. The male lead (Roshan) does a decent job as an actor. Noorin walks away with the best role and she gives good performance.

Shaan Rahman's background music is big plus. Sinu Sidharth's camera work lacks freshness.  

Verdict: ‘Lovers Day’, the coming-of-age tale, follows beaten track. Despite better penultimate scenes, it tests the patience. Many segments are embarrassingly lifeless. It is a boring teenage drama.