TRIGGER: BLOOD AND GORE
CAST: Vikrant Massey, Sanya Malhotra, Bobby Deol, Raj Arjun, Yudhvir Ahlawat, Yogi Singha, MK Raina
DIRECTOR :Shankar Raman
BLUF : A crime thriller revolving around two star-crossed lovers and their resolve to stay together while being tailed by an assassin sent by their families, with only bloodshed on his mind.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
There is a lot going on in Love Hostel and if you are not familiar with the Indian societal guidelines of the the undercurrent of caste, religion and permissibility; you will wonder what the motivations of the characters are.
To start with, religion and caste system remains deeply entrenched in the Indian societal arrangements in a way that divides more than assimilates communities.
Normally, the work that you do identifies your caste and the stratification starts there.
Ashu is actually Ahmed but circumstances force him to go by another name which make his caste and religion less biased.
He is in love with Jyoti, who is the granddaughter of a ruthless matriarch who would go to any lengths to keep control of the family’s choices.
When Ashu and Jyoti elope, sh$$ hits the roof with the family.
The evil granny hires Dagar, a mercenary to track them down and kill them.
Meanwhile the lovers get married in court and register their marriage. Because their lives are in danger due to the inter-caste/ religion nature of their union puts them in protective custody at the Love Hostel where other people like them are also housed.
Dagar goes on a bloody spree tracing the lovers down. This is the story of the lovers on the run as a residue of blood and gore follows their flight.
Will they be together at the end of it?
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Linearly told, the movie is gritty, bloody and hard hitting in its 100 minutes that we hope against hope for the lives of the lovers. Director Shankar Raman keeps the narrative simple, the frames clean, and the shots focused on the characters. Shot in dark hues, the camera work depicts the mood of the narrative effectively.
Vikrant Massey is in his element. His instinctive fight or flight is very impactful to the tension of the story. Sanya Malhotra matches him frame to frame with her naive belief and together they create immediate chemistry that the audience gets quickly invested into.
The big reveal of the movie is Bobby Deol. The days of seeing Mr. Deol in his bomber jackets, swinging his body to the pulsating beats of super hit songs are definitely long gone. Uncover the new gritty, earthy avatar who looks rustic, catches the correct cadence of Dagar and delivers the character to perfection in his Haryanavi diction.
Just like Shankar Raman’s earlier Gurgaon, the underlying arc is that some societies justify the crimes they commit for the upholding of their beliefs as righteous. It is a continuation of the same neo noir genre.
The actors are very well cast. The cinematography is extremely effective in creating the thrills and go a long way to match the BG score that keeps pace with the story and is at no time a deflection.
Akshay Oberoi from Gurgaon makes a small appearance.
WHAT WE LOVED:
The actors
The linear story
Impactful length
WHAT WE MISSED
we hoped against hope for a happy ending
