Movie Review: Love Today

Director: Pradeep Ranganathan
Producers: Kalpathi S. Aghoram, Kalpathi S. Ganesh
Cast: Pradeep Ranganathan, Ivana, Raveena Ravi, Sathyaraj
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Banner: AGS Entertainment
Language: Tamil

Pradeep Ranganathan made an impressive debut with the 2019 comedy-drama Comali, starring Jayam Ravi and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles. He chose a unique plotline once again and came up with his second outing, Love Today. Apart from directing, he also played the lead hero in it. The film features Ivana as the female lead. Radhika Sarathkumar and Satyaraj played pivotal roles in it. Let’s see how it turned out to be.

Love Today explores the love story of two millennial kids, Uthaman (Pradeep) and Nikita (Ivana). Just like the most present-day couple, this pair fall in love and decide to get married without really ‘knowing’ each other. That’s when Nikita’s father (Satyaraj) comes up with a condition for their marriage. He asks Uthaman and Nikita to exchange their phone for a day. He says that he will agree to this marriage only if they manage to love each other after exchanging their phones. What happens when the couple exchanges their mobile phones forms the main crux of the film.

This is a unique idea that will appeal to the youngsters of this generation. Pradeep not only gets his idea right but also explores the entire screenplay by targeting the millennials. Even the film’s making style reminds you of TikTok videos and Instagram reels. The youngsters can relate to every scene, whether it is the sequence where the heroine goes on a night ride with her ex without her lover’s (hero) knowledge or the hero messaging other women on Instagram.

Pradeep Ranganathan is not only good as a writer and a director but he also scores brownie points with his acting too. His guy-next-door looks work for him big time. Ivana also impresses as the female lead. The lead pair’s chemistry is one of the major highlights of this romantic comedy. Satyaraj gives a settled performance. Radhika is good too and most of the time, she has been used to preach morals and values. Yogi Babu impresses with a heart-warming character. Raveena also shines as Yogi Babu’s wife.

Love Today’s writing follows the ‘template’ of every romantic drama. But Pradeep brings freshness through his screenplay and the usage of music and editing. Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja works big time. It is one of the major assets of this film. The production values are great. The technical brilliance of the film can be seen in many scenes, be it the title cards or funky transitions.

If a director knows the sensibilities of his target audience, he can come up with a winner of a subject. Pradeep has done exactly that. Love Today will be relatable to all youngsters out there and it will engage them right from the beginning to the end. Towards the end, the film falls into the typical ‘message-conveying’ zone but that doesn’t take away the fun at all.

On the whole, Love Today showcases how a hormone-charged couple turns into an emotional couple. It is the ultimate fun ride, especially for the youth. You can watch it without any inhibitions.

Thumbs Up:

Comedy

Unique storyline

Music

Thumbs Down:

A few moments in the second half

Predictable and stereotypical climax

Bottom-Line: Ultimate Fun Ride For The Youth