Love Action Drama

Love Action Drama is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Dhyan Sreenivasan in his directorial debut.

Love Action Drama
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDhyan Sreenivasan
Produced by
Written byDhyan Sreenivasan
Starring
Music byShaan Rahman
Cinematography
Edited byVivek Harshan
Production
company
Distributed byFuntastic Films Release
Release date
  • 5 September 2019 (2019-09-05) (India)
Running time
146 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹8crore
Box officeest.₹28crore

Produced by Visakh Subramaniam and Aju Varghese, the film stars Nivin Pauly and Nayanthara. Its music was composed by Shaan Rahman. The film was released in theatres across Kerala on 5 September 2019 and in rest-of-India in the following day and was released internationally on 13 September 2019.

Plot

Dinesh (Nivin Pauly), a wealthy bachelor who is overconfident of himself tries to impress Shobha (Nayanthara) with the help of his bestfriend Sagar (Aju Varghese) and hopes to marry her someday.

The movie takes place in a series of flashbacks, starting with Dinesh reminiscing about his first meeting with Shobha and their relationship. Dinesh, comes from a very rich background and as such doesn't work, partying and drinking with his friend all the time. He's upset that his cousin Swathi (Durga Krishna) is getting married. They were in a relationship until Swathi learnt through google (when they were still kids) that people who are blood-relatives tend to have deformed babies, and breaks up with Dinesh.

Dinesh is still upset about it and wants to break up the wedding by any costs. Shobha is one of Swathi's friends and she seems to like Dinesh on sight. Shobha definitely seems to find his antics funny, not getting mad when she gets hurt as a result of Dinesh's plan to hurt the bridegroom. He mistakenly enters Shobha's room and spills coconut oil on the floor (while drunk) hoping the bridegroom will get hurt and the marriage will be cancelled. Later, Dinesh is asked to accompany Shobha's friends in the hospital for her overnight's stay, and has a conversation with her. Shobha advises Dinesh to move on, get a haircut, shave and attend the wedding, saying some other girl is sure to fall for him. They flirt throughout the wedding and she indirectly invites him to meet up with her when he's in Chennai.

Dinesh finds a way to temporarily shift to Chennai with his friend Sagar, to woo Shobha. He hangs out with Shobha and her friends at first and things seem to be going fine for them. One day, Dinesh and Sagar start a fight during Priya's (Dhanya Balakrishnan) birthday party and Shobha asks them to stay away. Her friends criticize her for introducing vagabonds to their group. Shobha learns that Dinesh is not pursuing masters but is just wasting time drinking and spending money without a care in the world. Shobha, although wealthy too, works hard and runs her own business. Dinesh sets about trying to get back into Shobha's good graces. He starts with her friends first, and wins their trust. Shobha agrees to a relationship and potential marriage to Dinesh, placing one condition that he should give up smoking and drinking. Dinesh agrees to her condition but ends up getting drunk that very night. Shobha and Priya catch him in the act (he rents a house opposite to hers) and storms away in anger.

Dinesh manages to convince Shobha by donning on Sabarimala (religious oath to abstain from indulging alcohol-related activities for 41 days) and they get back together. This time, Dinesh becomes suspicious and too possessive of Shobha because she's always busy and on calls. Some random guy implies to Dinesh that Shobha dates around a lot and he starts following her to find out what she's actually doing for few days. Dinesh confronts the guy and he vaguely implies how beautiful girls like Shobha always have plenty of guys admiring her and it's common to throw away a partner when better one comes around. Enraged, Dinesh gets rid of the chains and bracelet (religious constraint) and drinks an entire bottle of vodka. Sagar admits him in the hospital and calls Shobha and Priya. Shobha hits Dinesh and he walks away in anger. A few days later, Shobha calls and proposes marriage, to which he agrees.

Shobha's father (Sreenivasan) doesn't like Dinesh, after tricking and finding out that Dinesh still drinks despite several promises made to Shobha, but doesn't say no to the match because Shobha has faith she will bring Dinesh around. Two days before the wedding, Dinesh is approached by a stranger who has few photographs of himself and Shobha together, stating Shobha cheated him after getting a better match in the form of wealthy Dinesh. This is where the flashbacks end as Dinesh is contemplating what to do next. He already calls off the wedding through a phone call with Shobha. When his mom (Mallika Sukumaran) asks Dinesh to meet and discuss in person the reason for calling off the wedding, Dinesh insults Shobha's father when he tries to give advise. This pushes Shobha to give up changing his mind and utter 'I hate you' to Dinesh and leaves with her father.

Dinesh, is leaving the city with Sagar when he finds out through a selfie, drunkenly posted in facebook by the stranger, Suman (Vineeth Sreenivasan) that he and the guy who implied Shobha dates a lot and another of Shobha's friends husband are all friends. Turns out these three guys planned and ruined Dinesh and Shobha's relationship on purpose. Priya's ex-husband is mad that his marriage ended because of Shobha. He is physically abusive to Priya in a jealous rage that she hangs out a lot with Shobha and not spending a lot of time with him. Shobha walks in and saves Priya, owing to keep her away from him (for Priya's safety). He wanted Shobha to feel the pain he experienced after the divorce.

Shobha and her friends are called to the police station after Dinesh beats those three guys up. Dinesh begs for Shobha to take him back, saying he's wrong to suspect her. Shobha resists at first, stating she doesn't trust him anymore and that faith in relationship is crucial. She soon agrees, mentioning the same 'no drinking & smoking' conditions to which Dinesh agrees, and tells him to convince her father. Dinesh also begs to Shoba's father.

Cut to Present: Dinesh takes an alcoholic drink and smokes a cigarette with Sagar before entering the marriage hall where he marries Shobha. (We see Priya's ex-husband and it is kind of implied that they are back together.)

Cast

Production

Love Action Drama marks the directorial debut of actor Dhyan Sreenivasan, and his second screenplay after Goodalochana. The film also marks the debut production of Visakh Subramaniam and Aju Varghese under their newly formed production company Funtastic Films. It was during the time of Adi Kapyare Kootamani (2015) that Subramaniam and Aju decided to co-produce the film.[1] Love Action Drama was announced in July 2017, during the fifth anniversary of Thattathin Marayathu. The film, according to Dhyan, is a modern-day take on the 1989 film Vadakkunokkiyantram written, directed and starring his father Sreenivasan. Nivin's and Nayanthara's character's were named Dineshan and Shobha after the names of the lead characters in Vadakkunokkiyantram.[2]

It was Vineeth Sreenivasan who suggested the name of Nayanthara and she immediately agreed after hearing the screenplay.[1] Dhyan completed the screenplay by November 2017. The filming was expected to begin by the end of the year, but had to wait for the lead actors' availability.[3] In February 2018, Aju said that the shoot would begin by July 2018, once Nivin completes filming Kayamkulam Kochunni. He also revealed that Nivin was planning to lose weight for the role.[4][5] A pooja function for the film was held at Anjumana Devi Temple in Kochi on 14 July 2018, with principal photography beginning the same day.[6] The first schedule ended on 27 July 2018.[7] After a delay, the second schedule began in February 2019 and the entire filming process was completed by early June 2019.[8]

Soundtrack
Love Action Drama
Soundtrack album by
Shaan Rahman
Released2019
GenreFilmi
Length23:08
LanguageMalayalam
LabelMuzik 247
Shaan Rahman chronology
Sachin
(2019)		 Love Action Drama
(2019)		 Pranaya Meenukalude Kadal
(2019)

The music was composed by Shaan Rahman, with lyrics written by Manu Manjith, Preeti Nambiar, B. K. Harinarayanan, Santhosh Varma, and Vineeth Sreenivasan. The song teaser of "Kudukku" crossed 13 million views within its release. The audio rights were acquired by Muzik247.[9]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Raathein"Preeti NambiarNarayani Gopan, Shaan Rahman3.03
2."Kudukku"Manu ManjithVineeth Sreenivasan2.36
3."Varavaayi"B. K. HarinarayananShaan Rahman4.77
4."Aalolam"Santhosh VarmaK. S. Harisankar, Gowry Lekshmi4.13
5."Churulariyaatha"Vineeth SreenivasanVineeth Sreenivasan1.85
6."Ponvilakkaayi"B. K. HarinarayananShaan Rahman2.29
7."Oru Swapnam Pole"Manu ManjithBharath Sajikumar, Aswin Vijayan, Sreejish C. S., Nanda J. Devan, Narayani Gopan4.65
Total length:23.08

Release

Love Action Drama was released in theatres across Kerala on 5 September 2019 and in rest-of-India in the following day and was released internationally on 13 September 2019.

Box office

The film grossed US$387,185 from 46 screens in the opening weekend (12 – 15 September) in the United Arab Emirates and US$528,340 in four weeks.[10] In the opening weekends in other territories in the following weeks, it grossed A$15,914 (₹7.83 lakh ) from six screens in Australia,[11] US$34,021 (₹24.14 lakh ) from 34 screens in the United States, NZ$13,265 (₹5.91 lakh ) from 8 screens in New Zealand, and US$6,625 ({{INR|4.7 lakh}{) from four screens in Canada.[12] It grossed NZ$19,378 (₹8.58 lakh) in New Zealand in two weeks, A$25,361 (₹12.1 lakh) in Australia in three weeks,[13] and US$53,887 (₹38.15 lakh) in the US in five weeks.[14]

Critical response

Malayala Manorama rated 3 in a scale of 5, and said: "as a simple fun-filled movie, Love Action Drama stands out. There are things that keep us interested in proceedings as Dhyan Sreenivasan focuses on making an out-an-out entertainer than delivering so called realistic or sensible content. As a debutant director, Dhyan has managed to make an enjoyable film with ease".[15] Calling the film "entertaining", Sify rated 3 out of 5 and wrote "Love Action Drama is a romantic comedy that is a fine watch that ensures some good laughs and some fine moments". [16] Anna Mathews of The Times of India rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Love Action Drama is a simple, in fact, old fashioned tale, but it has many laugh out loud moments and, apart from the lead acts, who have great charisma and chemistry, Aju Varghese who plays Sagar, Nivin Pauly’s cousin and confidante, adds great entertainment".[17] Rating 3 out of 5, Manoj Kumar R. of The Indian Express said: "Dhyan smartly weaves some effective observations on the battle of the sexes into an entertaining romantic comedy, which feels more like pop-corn blockbuster than a comment on the complexity of today's relationships".[18]

Deccan Chronicle rated 3 out of 5 and wrote: "Dhyan's direction is above average and the film hardly offers any boring or dead sequence ... Delicious visuals in Chennai and decent music make it a worthy one-time watch.[19] Sajin Shrijith of The New Indian Express rated 2.5 out of 5, stating "It's obvious that the goal of the film is only to entertain us and not be too intellectual. Even so, there has to be a certain degree of emotional conflict to get us invested in the drama".[20] Behindwoods.com rated 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Love Action Drama is a watchable entertainer with elements appealing to youth and family audiences".[21] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute rated 2 out of 5 and stated "LAD is like a stuck record, playing the one line story of the film over and over again".[22] Gulf News critic said "'LAD' is all frills with little substance", adding that "there seems to have been an urge to fill it with as many commercial elements possible. The resulting cocktail tastes insipid".[23]

The Hindu wrote: "Even for a movie which doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a good thing, the lack of seriousness in having a solid script hurts it sorely. This is especially evident in the second half, when even the peppy song numbers and the jokes thrown in mechanically at regular intervals fail to excite".[24] HuffPost wrote: "Dhyan Sreenivasan is definitely inspired by his brother Vineeth Sreenivasan's sense of humour in cinema. But unlike him, Dhyan is more inclined towards the social media troll/meme version of comedy. So, what we get are already seen and heard, just that Dhyan copy-pastes it at various scenes. It's easy and lazy writing. Few of the gags work, most fall flat".[25] Anna M. M. Vetticad from Firstpost awarded 1.5 in a scale of 5 and said: "Love Action Drama taps his [Nivin Pauly's] versatility with a narrative that repeatedly breaks its own mood by jumping from extreme intensity to extreme frivolity without warning often within the same scene. The switches are fun at first because they signal the writer-director's keenness that we not take his film too seriously. Fair enough. The technique wears thin though as Love Action Drama's lack of substance becomes increasingly obvious and it wanders about aimlessly, wanders again, then wanders some more".[26]

References
  1. Shrijith, Sajin (5 September 2019). "'We didn't expect Nayanthara to say yes': Visakh Subramaniam". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  2. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (9 July 2017). "Nivin, Nayanthara to play lead in Dhyan's directorial which will be a modern day Vadakkunokkiyanthram". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. "Dhyan Sreenivasan completes script of Nivin-Nayanthara starrer". The Times of India.
  4. "Nivin Pauly to shed weight for Love Action Drama-". The New Indian Express.
  5. "കളർഫുൾ ലവ്, ചിയർഫുൾ ഡ്രാമ; റിവ്യു". ManoramaOnline (in Malayalam). Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. Jayaram, Deepika (14 July 2018). "Love Action Drama team starts rolling". The Times of India.
  7. "'Love Action Drama' completes the first schedule". Sify. 28 July 2018.
  8. "Nivin Pauly, Nayanthara wrap up Love Action Drama". The Indian Express. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. "'Love Action Drama'". LyricsMall. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  10. "Love Action Drama". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  11. "Dream Girl collects 1.67 mil. USD [Rs. 11.69 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  12. "Dream Girl collects 3.21 mil. USD [Rs. 22.76 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  13. "Dream Girl collects 4.05 mil. USD [Rs. 28.39 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  14. "War collects 12.93 mil. USD [Rs. 91.57 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  15. "Love Action Drama review: Nivin Pauly-Nayanthara movie lives up to its title". OnManorama.
  16. "Love Action Drama review: A romantic comedy that ensures a few laughs". Sify.
  17. "Love Action Drama Review {3/5}: Nivin Pauly and Nayanthara starrer will definitely appeal to youth crowds, and to families". The Times of India.
  18. "Love Action Drama movie review: Nivin Pauly and Nayanthara shine in entertaining romantic drama". 6 September 2019.
  19. m.g, Gokul (7 September 2019). "Love Action Drama movie review: Dhyan hits bullseye". Deccan Chronicle.
  20. "'Love Action Drama' film review: An elegant but bland romantic comedy". The New Indian Express.
  21. "Love Action Drama (aka) Love review". Behindwoods. 5 September 2019.
  22. "'Love Action Drama' review: Nivin-Nayanthara's romcom is out of fresh ideas". The News Minute. 7 September 2019.
  23. "'Love Action Drama' film review: Insipid and unconvincing". gulfnews.com.
  24. Praveen, S. r (6 September 2019). "'Love Action Drama' review: This Nivin Pauly outing lacks substance and a solid script" – via www.thehindu.com.
  25. https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/love-action-drama-review-nivin-pauly-nayanthara-rom-com-absurd_in_5d733a62e4b0fde50c269c94
  26. "Love Action Drama movie review: Nayanthara is a mere aside in an immature Nivin Pauly dramedy". Firstpost. 8 September 2019.
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