Movie: Ishq (Not A Love Story)
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Mega Supergood Films
Cast: Teja Sajja, Priya Varrier, Ravindra Vijay, and others
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Music: Mahathi Swara Sagar
Editor: A Vara Prasad
Art: Vithal Kosanam
Presenter: RB Choudary
Director: SS Raju
Producers: NV Prasad, Paras Jain, Vakada Anjan Kumar
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Theatres have reopened this week after the prolonged second wave of coronavirus situation. Teja Sajja, Priya Prakash Varrier’s “Ishq -Not A Love Story” is one of the films to hit the screens today.
Check out the film’s merits and demerits.
Story:
The film is set in Vizag. Siddhu (Teja Sajja) and Anu (Priya Prakash Varrier) go for a long drive to ring on her birthday. Siddhu knows a parking lot beside a hospital that hardly sees any people coming in. They drive into that lot to have a moment together.
Their romantic moment is disturbed by a creep named Madhav demands to know what they are doing in the car and threatens them to arrest and put them in the police station. Another person joins him, and the two moral goons harass the young couple for hours in the night.
Artistes’ Performances:
Teja Sajja is effective in the role as he effortlessly portrays the character that transforms from a weak guy to that of a revenge seeker.
Priya appears gorgeous and also pulls off the role, with her believable performance. Ravindra Vijay as the main villain is terrific.
Technical Excellence:
Mahati Swara Sagar’s music is appropriate. “Aagalekapotunna...” stands out. Shyam K Naidu’s cinematography is neat, and the production values look decent.
Highlights:
Basic plot
The pre-interval scenes
Drawback:
Boring sequences of harassment
Many scenes drag on and on
The slow pace
Analysis
Stories about lovers facing harassment are not new. Still, “Ishq Not A Love Story” addresses an important topic - moral policing. At the center of this story, which is based on a super hit Malayalam film of the same name, is a relevant social issue of unlawful acts of duplicate police.
This begins as a slow love story and sets the tempo high when a moral police goon begins to harass them. The sudden turn of the story from a romantic mood to a spine-chilling mood is good. But it becomes a drag after a point, and the harassment reaches an unbelievable level.
It is understandable if the youngster feared to retaliate because the other person is a police officer. But it defies logic to see the young guy remaining silent when the so-called police officer crosses all levels of decency with his girlfriend. Youngsters tend to react wildly for no reason, but here the hero is more passive even though the creep tortures his girlfriend with his lewd act.
Moreover, it is in plain sight to notice that the creeps are not the real police. Still, he doesn't gather the courage to react. The prolonged harassment sequence has spoiled the believability factor.
Furthermore, the second half expectedly turns into a revenge tale, and the sequence of an elaborate revenge ritual is exhausting. They are a bore. Some scenes test our patience. However, the final act is relatively good.
Despite having a good plot point, the execution is unimpressive. Director SS Raju has followed the original but has not managed to hold our interest.
All in all, “Ishq” is neither a perfect love story, nor a fitting revenge tale, and this cocktail of elements is not palatable.
Bottom-line: Exhausting