Director: Prabhu Ram Vyas

Arun ( Manikandan) and Divya ( Sri Gouri Priya) have been dating for 6 years but they find themselves drifting apart from each other, what happens when you can’t let them go or even be with them forms the rest of the movie. 

This movie is from the team of Good Night, starring Manikandan, and with its huge success, Lover had its own set of expectations. Good Night was a feel-good movie to watch with your family, but Lover is completely different. It’s a movie to watch with your partner, or you can watch it alone and relate to someone in your life. If you have come across someone like Arun, this is for them.

Movie starts with Divya telling her friends how she met her love, Arun. She was seen smiling and cherishing those moments but she is interrupted by a call from Arun. The smile quickly fades and she is scared and hesitantly picks up the phone. She says she is at a function but Arun caught on to her lie from a picture her friend shared on social media. Furious, Arun goes to the beach to confront her but his bike is repaired and he calls his friend but they both get drunk and go to her apartment to confront her. He creates a scene, screams at her, manipulates her and gaslights her and also says sorry without realizing his mistake and they make it up.

The whole movie is a mix of this, him controlling whatever she likes to do and her lying to live her life the way she wants. But director Prabhu Ram Vyas still made it fairly engaging, even though the same scenes were happening in different formats it wasn’t boring it gave a much deeper reason why Arun is behaving the way he is. Subplot of his strained family relationship made him more human, even though you hate him, you will have a soft spot for him. Divya does the same too.

It is clear that they both care for each other, but will the relationship work out with an insecure and possessive boyfriend who still thinks “ he has to give freedom to his girlfriend”.

The writing for the movie is the main anchor, it holds the film together and at no cost it tries to justify what Arun is doing. It is just a raw and real projection of a struggling relationship of a young couple. We can see Divya struggling to put up with Arun but she can’t let go of him at the same time but she has to make a decision which anyways will cost her. There is Divya’s friend Aishwarya who always keeps her on the ground and Madhan who is drawn to the couple’s relationship issues trying to be there for her and also letting her make her own decision makes the movie much more believable.

Sean Roldan’s music takes the movie to next level along with movie’s cinematography by Shreyaas Krishna. Coming to the performance Manikandan as Arun was effortless and perfect and Sri Gouri Priya as a confused girlfriend struggling to maintain her identity was brilliant. Supporting cast including Saravanan and Divya’s friends did their part well and went perfectly with the movie.

After the emotional rollercoaster of the first half, the second half does become stagnant at some point. But still it was packed with emotional scenes like Divya breaking down to Arun’s mother, Arun hitting the rock bottom and realizing his mistake and his heartfelt conversation with Madhan was fairly engaging. It is a well made movie with strong plot, solid performance and elevating music.

Rating – 3.5/ 5

Verdict: This Valentine’s day if you are looking for something beyond romance, watch this!