Ankita Amar and Vihan Gowda in 'Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali'.
Credit: Paramvah Studios
Stories of unrequited love and lost love have a larger impact emotionally than the ones that end on a happy note. Chandrajith Belliyappa explores both in Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali.
Sid (Vihan Gowda) who hasn’t been able to move on from his first love Anahita (Ankita Amar), calls off his wedding with Radha (Mayuri Nataraj). Then begins a series of flashbacks.
A younger short-tempered SId meets a timid Anahita at a college fest. It’s love at first sight but it takes him a while and a couple of challenges to meet her again and confess his love for her. However circumstances part them. It’s been seven years. After breaking his engagement with Radha, Sid decides to check on Anahita.
The film tries to explore if love for a person can still mean the same years after separation. The director presents two perspectives from two different generations. An old cab driver’s narration of his love story is one of the most beautiful and the most heart-warming sequences in the film. I think it has something to do with the charm of old school romance.
Vihan and Mayuri Nataraj in the film.
Credit: Paramvah Studios
With Ibbani…, Kannada love stories seem more evolved. Sid has the traits of your typical commercial film hero. He’s short-tempered. He beats people up. But he also respects the boundaries Anahita sets for him.
When she says he is making her feel uncomfortable, he backs off, unlike most films — released over a period of time — that have had the hero stalking the heroine and making her feel more uncomfortable before she falls in love with his toxic masculinity that she mistakes for chivalry.
Chandrajith follows a simple method of storytelling without any confusions or any major plot changes or twists in the narrative. The film takes references from books like Erich Segal’s Love Story and O Henry’s The Last Leaf. Having said that, when Sid meets Anahita again, she is at her weakest point. He tries to do his best to make her more positive and also tries to fulfill her dreams.
The film however has its bleak moments. One of the major drawbacks is the treatment of the emotions of the male protagonist. Sid’s character requires a certain amount of emotion that can make the audience vouch for him. The audience will perhaps be able to connect emotionally with Anahita’s struggles but not through Sid which is essential in a love story. There are also some unnecessary parts in the film that can make one feel bored but in retrospect, the film leaves a soothing feeling in the heart.
To conclude, Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali is a feel good romance made of polaroid pictures, poetry, wine, beautiful visuals by Srivathsan Selvarajan and Gagan Baderia’s music — all in the backdrop of the Goan monsoon and Bengaluru’s aesthetics.
(The film is currently running in theatres)