A charming first half and two winning lead performances are undone by an overlong, predictable second half that loses sight of what made Chennai Love Story special, notes Sreeju Sudhakaran.
Key Points
- Chennai Love Story suffers from excessive length and a weak second half, despite a promising start and strong performances.
- The film’s first half is charming, driven by Kiran Abbavaram’s magnetic performance and the delightful portrayal of his character, Steven Shankar.
- Sri Gouri Priya delivers an impressive performance as Nivi, effectively conveying her character’s emotional journey.
There are a couple of very crucial aspects that Telugu filmmakers need to urgently work on.
First, give your editors a freer hand and allow your movies to be crisper and more concise. I know you love every scene you shoot, but that doesn’t justify including all of them in the final cut and stretching the runtime to nearly three hours.
Secondly, do something about the screenplay and escape the second-half curse. I have seen enough Telugu movies that promise plenty of potential only to squander it with a lacklustre second half. Some even leave me heartbroken because I genuinely wanted to root for them.
Chennai Love Story, sadly, is one such film.
It has so much beautiful potential and some lovely performances, but loses its sheen because of its excruciating length and weaker writing in the second half.
Chennai Love Story Plot Overview
Chennai Love Story, as the name suggests, is the love story between Nivi (Sri Gouri Priya) and Steven Shankar (Kiran Abbavaram), set in Chennai.
Nivi, an IT professional, takes to alcoholism and lives in a constant state of depression after her boyfriend of three years abandons her on their wedding day.
Steven Shankar is a happy-go-lucky orphan who comes to Chennai to become a screenwriter, except that he writes terrible stories. After meeting Nivi and her friends and roommates at a bar, he emotionally manipulates them into letting him stay in their shared flat.
Nivi, still reeling from her heartbreak, is initially cold towards him. But after witnessing his good-natured behaviour and earnestness, she gradually warms up to him and even gets him a meeting with director P Vasu.
Steven Shankar slowly brings a smile back to her face, and Nivi begins to develop feelings for the man who treats her like a goddess. Steven readily accepts her love, and the two prepare for a court marriage. That’s when Nivi discovers she really has the worst luck when it comes to marrying someone.
Chennai Love Story: A Charming First Half
Chennai Love Story is written by Sai Rajesh Neelam of Baby fame, with newcomer Ravi Namburii taking on the directorial reins. I wish they had thought of a better title.
Sure, the love story is set in Chennai, but the city never truly becomes integral to it. It never gets the chance to become a character in its own right. You could set the film anywhere else in the country and it would hardly make a difference.
The love story itself, though, I really enjoyed how the film builds it up in the first half. Sure, we have seen stories about heartbroken heroines and a new man who comes along to bring happiness back into their lives before tragedy strikes. 2024’s Hindi blockbuster Saiyaara had a similar premise.
What makes Chennai Love Story so charming in its first half is the delightful way Steven Shankar’s character is presented. There is nothing particularly original about him, but the bubbly innocence of the character and Kiran Abbavaram’s infectiously magnetic performance bring enough amiability to the proceedings.
The light-hearted treatment of these portions also clicks, while Ravi Namburii ensures there is a steady supply of effective emotional scenes. Nivi’s broken emotional state is also presented well, and Sri Gouri Priya’s impressive performance further strengthens our attachment to her character.
She gets even better as the film progresses, bringing a relatable melancholy to several emotional scenes, particularly in the second half. The graveyard sequence, in particular, is a favourite of mine, where she pours out her anguish over a certain act of ‘betrayal’.
The biggest strength of the love story is undoubtedly the way the film builds their relationship and, of course, the beautiful chemistry between the two actors. There is an old-world romance to their bond that instantly warms your heart, even if the couple’s attempt at a certain Gen Z gesture of love feels oddly out of place.
Ravi Namburii also adds a few feel-good moments that work beautifully in the first half. Like Steven Shankar feeling validated when he is served tea in a china cup at P Vasu‘s office after being served beverages in plastic cups on film sets. Or Nivi keeping her bedroom window open to let Steven know she has finally moved on.
Nivi’s friends are also used smartly, never coming across as annoying or too intrusive to the screenplay, and contributing well to the lighter moments.
For any movie love story to truly click with you, the music has to be an easy attraction. The songs and background score should add a sense of enchantment without overwhelming the scenes. Here’s where Mani Sharma’s music works its magic.
Both the songs and the background score elevate almost every moment, even when the writing struggles to keep up, particularly in the third act. So far, so good, even when it is evident that something terrible awaits the couple.
Chennai Love Story: The Second Half Struggles
After a heartwarming first half, the pre-interval twist pushes the film deeper into emotional territory in the beginning of the second half, with Sri Gouri Priya handling those scenes with finesse.
Here’s where Chennai Love Story does something interesting that left me with mixed feelings.
I hadn’t watched the trailer or followed many updates before release, so I am not sure whether this had already been revealed. But there is the inclusion of a fantasy element that, in my opinion, disrupts the grounded nature that made the film so instantly appealing.
It is not as if the movie hadn’t hinted at it but this genre shift was a risky move. It works initially because we continue to care about the lead characters, and the opening portions are handled with a nice comic touch.
But soon enough, the cracks begin to show with the reintroduction of a certain character.
There is a scene in the first half where Nivi tells Steven that his screenplays don’t work because he borrows too much from his idols. She could have said the same thing to the screenplay writer of this movie as well.
Steven Shankar calls himself that because he is a fan of Steven Spielberg and Shankar. The drama that follows the fantasy element reminded me strongly of a certain Steven Spielberg romantic dramedy from the 1980s, one that isn’t among the filmmaker’s more illustrious works.
Being influenced isn’t the issue. The problem is that the film becomes far too predictable and melodramatic, robbing many emotional moments of their impact. It also reduces the female protagonist’s emotional agency, making her life increasingly revolve around the presence of a man.
Chennai Love Story: A Weak Third Act
Yes, we had seen her nursing a broken heart in the first half, but I still sensed an independent spirit within her. There is a lovely temple pond sequence where it is Nivi who takes the initiative to propose to Steven. But the same scene also quietly plants a flaw that resurfaces later: Too much importance being given to a woman’s chastity.
What is initially handled with comic mischief takes on a much more serious turn later. It is certainly irksome to see a film made in this day and age treat a woman’s sexual agency with kid gloves.
What’s worse, it even makes Steven’s character lose some of his likeability because of how he reacts to it.
Not to mention, there also has to be a scene where the hero saves the heroine from a group of goons. Sure, it is staged in an ingenious manner that doesn’t contradict what has already been established, and the sequence pays off later plot-wise. But it reminds you how Nivi’s character feels constrained by some regressive writing choices.
I won’t say that the second half is a complete letdown. The chemistry between the leads is still intact. Some moments still work beautifully; like Steven, who never thought his life mattered much, gradually finding reasons to believe otherwise. Or the tender moment of intimacy that follows after Nivi asks Steven for a ‘boon’.
Yet, these feel like scattered moments of goodness in a film that ultimately derails its own potential by the time it reaches the finish line.
