Review: With Love

Film: With Love
Produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and Magesh Raj Pasilian
Starring: Abishan Jeevinth, Anaswara Rajan, Harish Kumar, Kavya Anil, Sacchin Nachiappan, Theni Murugan and Saravanan
Writer, Director: Madhan
Music: Sean Roldan
DOP: Shreyaas Krishna
Editor: Suresh Kumar
Rating: 3.5 stars

Director Madhan’s With Love is a breezy, feel-good rom-com that revolves around two individuals who make an effort to track down the people they once fell in love with to express their unexpressed love. The film is primarily an entertainer and the fact that it seeks to be non-judgemental only adds to its charm.

Synopsis…

Sathya Seelan (Abishan Jeevinth) is a typical Gen Z youngster who lives life on his own terms. He has his own place, cooks his own food and works as an interior designer. He has an elder sister who is intent on getting him married and a father, with whom he seldom talks. It is under these circumstances that Sathya’s sister one day calls him to say that she has arranged a meeting for him with a prospective bride. Reluctantly, Sathya goes and gets to meet Monisha (Anaswara Rajan), a lively instagram influencer. They begin talking about their past in a bid to understand each other better.

It doesn’t take much time for the couple to realise that they were both students of the same school and that Sathya was a senior to Moni by a couple of years. Invariably, they begin discussing their love lives and Sathya tells about Anisha, a girl he was in love with in school but how he never got to tell her of his love for her. Moni, for her part, discloses about the feelings she had for Balaji, a boy in her class when she was in school and how they had to part ways before she could tell of her love for him.

By the time the meeting ends, Moni has an idea. She tells Sathya how it would be if they were to track down both these individuals and express their feelings for them. Sathya agrees. What happens then is what the film is all about…

Analysis…

Director Madhan comes up with a story that is reasonably good and that is likely to gain acceptance among youngsters. The film is a heady mix of emotional moments and fun. The heaviness that is brought about by the realisation of one losing an opportunity of a lifetime is perfectly off set by the light hearted moments the film showcases. Sathya’s antics and his hilarious conversations with his friends ensure there is enough comedy in the film to make proceedings lively and enjoyable.

One other factor that works in favour of the film is that it tries to be non-judgemental. For instance, there is a scene in the film in which Monisha confronts Balaji for trying to “stalk” her on Instagram. Balaji gently explains that he was too shy to express his love for her but that he was also madly in love so he could not restrain himself from knowing more about her. He asks her not to define him as a “stalker”.

Performances:

Having proved his mettle as a director in Tourist Family, Abishan Jeevinth proves how good an actor he is with this film. It takes a few minutes for him to settle down into his character of Sathya but once he gets into it, he is simply unstoppable. You forget that this man is just making his debut with this film and begin to expect from him a performance that you would normally expect from an established actor. The good news is that he doesn’t disappoint and comes up with a performance that is worthy of any top actor. Full marks to the young actor for a fine performance.

Anaswara Rajan, with her heavy Malayalam accent, isn’t as convincing as Abishan but then, she just about makes the cut. It takes quite a while for you to get used to Monisha, who claims she is from Trichy but who speaks Tamil with a strong Malayalam accent. This is not a bad performance per se but this certainly isn’t Anaswara’s finest performance as well.

Kavya Anil, who plays Anisha, comes up with a sterling performance to steal the show. She appears for only a brief while and her character comes into the limelight only for a short duration in the second half. But Kavya beautifully uses that limited space to make her mark. Her measured acting and her soulful depiction of a person filled both with disappointment and joy at the same time is perfect. Easily one of the actors to look forward to in the future.

The film has a splendid background score by Sean Roldan, whose work in all his films have been exemplary so far. Shreyaas Krishna’s visuals are bright, full of life and a delight to look at. Suresh Kumar’s editing is sharp.

On the whole, Madhan’s ‘With Love’ is definitely an entertainer that is worth watching!