‘Halal Love Story’ movie review: A colossal disappointment

Cast: Indrajith, Soubin Sahir, Joju George, Grace Antony and Parvathy

Director: Zakariya

Language: Malayalam

Rating: 1.5/5

The eagerly-awaited Halal Love Story, which was released on Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday (October 14), is a lousy and half-baked attempt at storytelling that fails to make an impact. The film revolves around what happens when a few people belonging to a religious organisation decide to make a movie featuring only ‘halal’ (permitted) elements.

The basic concept is intriguing and has enough ‘masala’ to satisfy a section of the audience. It, however, is not able to reach its potential as the execution is not up to the mark. The screenplay lacks depth as it relies of ‘telling’ as opposed to ‘showing’. Most of the characters come across as mere caricatures and this makes it difficult for fans to connect with the reel action.

The Zakariya-helmed Halal Love Story starts off on a promising note, reminding fans of the director’s previous movie Sudani From Nigeria. Things, however, go downhill pretty fast as the film simply spreads itself too thin. The sequences depicting the shoot of the ‘film within a film’ are mildly engaging and tickle the funnybone. These scenes, however, are few and far in between.

The bond between Grace Antony and Indrajith too has a bare-bones feel, making a limited impact. The scenes focusing on Joju George’s personal life feel forced and fail to hit the right notes. The climax, however, is a bit better than expected and might strike a chord with the target audience.

At times, it feels that the director is trying to recreate the magic of Sudani From Nigeria and this is not a good sign.

Coming to the performances, Joju George is the heart and soul of Halal Love Story and carries the film with full sincerity. Grace Anthony makes an impact with those shy glances, proving that she is a superstar in the making. Indrajith is okay in a role that does not really do justice to his stature in the industry.

Parvathy puts her best foot forward despite getting the limited scope. Soubin Sahir is criminally underutilised and deserved better.

The supporting cast is decent. The songs are hummable and gel with the narrative. The cinematography is up to the mark. The editing, however, is not as good as expected as some of the scenes drag a bit. The background score works in parts. The other technical aspects have been handled well.