Love Failure is a remarkably easy film to watch — no pressure, no headache. Right from the word go, its fresh, the narrative, the characters and the music. While it cannot be called a musical mockumentary, the film adopts a similar style using songs in real time, ‘sound bytes' and the protagonist addresses the camera directly and forms the bridge between the audience and the story. Arun (Siddharth) introduces the characters and tells the tale.
The film is about love and the many shades of love and the many ages of love. The film makes no assumptions on being a guide to understanding love, it just points out the eccentricities and the many layers of human relationship. Love needs to be interpreted; this film is a quirky attempt at interpreting this feeling called love. The narrative paints a beautiful picture of the past and the present where the stories move back and forth in time with ease. Love Failure is not just one story; it's a story that emerges from many stories.
Starting from the break-up, the film portrays the many stages of Siddharth's love story, narrated to different people at different times and places. Arun and Parvathi become friends and even before they know it, the friendship goes a step further, however as the relationship progresses, Arun fears that he might be giving up way too much ‘life' to keep Parvathi happy. But Parvathi thinks that Arun doesn't give her enough attention. Throughout the film, a gross generalisation is made about feminine behaviour — like the ‘tear tank', irritation, possessiveness or the trait of over-thinking.
The story is credible and likeable because it is a gentle reflection of the new-age urban life. You get the feel right from the clothes, phones or the passing mention friend-lists and chatting or how you wait all night to receive a sms from her or him. Issues of prioritising like confusion over applying to a university abroad or choosing a Frisbee practice over a phone call make the film extremely relatable. Little things like the father being more active on Facebook offers plenty of giggles (probably because it's true!). Falling out of love is just as natural as falling in and the story progresses through the very nature of human relationships — the instability.
The rekindling of love between Parvathi's (Amala Paul) parents Surekha Vani and Suresh is rather unreal but adds an old-world romantic charm to the film. Siddharth and Amala Paul simply waltz through the plot, set to pleasant music. Through an array of well-sketched characters in the form of Siddharth's friends add to the films fun quotient.
The stories are weaved into each other bringing out the many layers of human relationships in a mature fashion. Love Failure is not a film with a point A to point B plot; it's a fluffy mesh of sub-plots that will delightfully engage your intelligentsia and understanding of love and romance.
LOVE FAILURE
Cast : Amala, Siddharth, Suresh and Surekha Vani
Director : Balaji Mohan
Music : S. S. Thaman
Plot : Girl and boy, break-up and get back together amidst many other stories
Bottomline : A breezy affair and ends without being an overkill
