When Seetha (Melanie Kannokada) an Indian, declares that love is the root cause of all troubles at the age of 12, it definitely throws light on her maturity. We learn her mother had turned pregnant when she was 14 and left her in an adoption home. She has been taken into the fold by a childless American couple who gave her the name Seetha after the daughter of childless King Janaka who prayed and was blessed with a daughter.
Seetha's insecurity begins as a child; after she walks home with her new parents, her mother becomes pregnant and Seetha asks her father if she has to return home (adoption home). She knows what it is to not have parents and also is happy at the sense of belonging but what the film probably wants to stress is - that you can run away from a lot of things in your life but you can't really run away from who you are. Love is like a passing phase, fades away as you grow and she believes in this dictum.
The film begins with a great life of a bunch of New Yorkers — six young people Seetha, Ramya, Caroline and Rahul, Tom, Bhavuk. All the three men realise they have fallen in love with Seetha and they all seek Ramya's and Caroline's help, some tips to date her.
The woman with a fixed idea that love is a lie is willing to date all the three men simultaneously but reveals to them they are not her type; instead she finds herself attracted to her childhood companion at the adoption home who comes hunting for her in New York. The rest of the story is about how the love triangle envelopes the friends and other characters.
Chandra is lucky to have a cast that is so good; they are all so charming and natural Even the actor who plays Seetha's mother for a few seconds, seen glancing at a man smoking on a bridge, lets her eyes demonstrate her longing for a fag.
LLS is a fun film, it could have been far better had the pace been swift and the content more compact. The introduction and the first part of the film is captivating and the director gives an impression that the element of philosophy woven around Seetha during childhood and her growing years would lead to something far more intense, but he makes it a very ordinary story. Also at one stage you wonder why Seetha is being given so much bhaav when she doesn't believe in love and dates three guys only to disappoint them all. All the girls Seetha, Ramya and Caroline are very distinctive and reflect their lifestyle, how they live life on their own terms. The boys in love including the man who play's Seetha's brother have humorous lines. But did the director need to dress up Seetha in a garish South Indian langa blouse to show her Indianness?
This film with a run time of around 100 minutes aims for audience of the hipster generation with English subtitles that help understand the fast paced accented American English. Music is delectable.
This Indo-American movie has Indian Americans and American actors as its cast and has been shot in RED. Absence of melodrama, good writing and lively and bright performances makes LLS is a reasonably engaging watch.
Love, Lies and Seetha
Cast: Melanie Kannokada, Arjun Gupta, Lavrenti Lopes
Director: Chandra Pemmaraju
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Plot: Seetha doesn't believe in love but faces the twist when 3 men fall for her
Bottomline: It is formulaic but is inherently sincere
