Love 360
Kannada (Theatres)
Director: Shashank
Cast: Praveen Kumar, Rachana,
Rating: 3/5
Love 360, the latest outing by Shashank Taalya, is basically a celebration of love. The director uses reverence, purity, innocence and loyalty to redefine the meaning of ‘true love’.
Fate lands Raam (Praveen Kumar) and Janaki (Rachana) in an orphanage. An incident brings the two together. Janaki’s short-term memory loss makes Raam to always guard her. As they age, they fall in love and begin to stay in the same house.
Disheartened by repeated remarks of some people that Janaki is mentally ill and she needs hospitalisation, Raam vows to cure her short-term memory loss. He proves to the world that she is normal and then marries her. In the melee, he faces countless obstacles as Janaki’s every unintentional act lands both of them in deep trouble. Circumstances drag her into a murder case and conviction appears imminent considering circumstantial evidences against her. Whether and how they win the legal battle forms the climax.
The flick has many similarities with 2009 award winning South Korean thriller ‘Madeo’ (Mother). The first half establishes characters and the background despite some lagging scenes. The second half is intense with turns and twists. It resembles an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
Unlike in other flicks dealing with love, the filmmaker doesn’t force songs and action sequences. Shashank stays away from skin show and double entendre and that’s a huge relief. However, a fight in a hotel and the subplot of a doctor’s divorced daughter, doesn’t complement the overall plot. Raam disconnecting power supply in a court hall defies logic.
As a young couple, Praveen and Rachana impress in their debut. It is Gopalakrishna Deshpande who steals the show with his brilliant performance and signature north Karnataka Kannada dialect. The romantic thriller is a one-time watch along with family members despite flaws .