Of enticements and estrangements

Love U Alia
Kannada (U/A)
Cast: Ravichandran, Bhoomika Chawla, Sudharani, Chandan Kumar, Sangeetha Chauhan, Ravishankar, Sadhu Kokila, Shakeela
Director: Indrajit Lankesh
Rating: ***

A raunchy number by Sunny Leone kicks off Indrajit Lankesh’s Love U Alia, where Kiran — the cupid-struck match-maker or -breaker — tries to be the rainmaker in the lives of estranged couple Ravi and Bhoomi.

Full of chutzpah and ample skin show, the film begins with an interview with Kiccha Sudeep. Indrajit Lankesh quizzes the star on marriage, morals and how he balances his professional and personal life. Lankesh highlights how personal egos and overt professional pursuits drive otherwise perfect couples to divorce, the marital discord having an impact on the children of such marriages. In this case Alia, a stoutly independent airhostess, who makes time for mum and dad she loves so dearly.

Given her parents’ past, she is cagey about getting into relationships and shuns any interests from besotted men. Spicing up the fare with songs where heroines jive in skimpy outfits, and double entendres, Indrajit Lankesh weaves a tale that tries one’s tolerance.

It is not that Love U Alia’s core concern is uninteresting. It is just the flippancy with which Indrajit Lankesh deals with a serious subject — be it the way Alia is pursued by Selfie (Zulfi) Bhai or how Kiran (as goes the tagline — Marriages are Made in Heaven, Arranged by Kiran) stalks Alia. Worst of all, how Kiran turns a drag queen nurse to impress Alia’s gynecologist father.

Love U Alia is tiring given it is 141-minute long. The comic interludes are horrendous and the romantic bits reprehensible. Couples caught in a whirlpool of conflicts going separate ways is nothing new, nor does Indrajit Lankesh bring any novelty to the narrative. Despite having the acumen of a shrewd craftsman, he churns out a hollow love tale. Even the performances are pedestrian.

It’s to be seen whether Sunny Leone’s wink and blink appearance with Kamakshi item and Ravichandran’s stodgy presence will resurrect the fortunes of Love U Alia.