Not a Love Story
Not a Love Story [2011]
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Writer: Rohit C. Banawlikar (screenplay)
Cast: Deepak Dobriyal, Ajay Gehi and Mahie Gill
Storyline: Inspired by the infamous 2008 Neeraj Grover Murder Mystery.
Running Time: 100 mins.
Country/Pays: India/ Inde.
Rating: 7.5/10
When Not a Love Story begins, you will soon realize that the budget was literally what The Avatar & Steven Spielberg's "The Lost World" crew spent on snacks. That’s not necessarily such a bad thing after all, because Ram Gopal Varma was always good at his game with films such as Satya-The Truth (1998), Bhoot (Ghost) (2003) and more.
The entire movie is realistically shot in order to make the audience get the actual feel of what may have occurred, during the gruesome event on 7th May 2008. To begin with the prime cast Mahi Gill who portrays herself as Anu is your charming next door girl from Chandigarh, who carries dreams of an aspiring actress in Indian film industry, popularly known as Bollywood.
Deepak Dobriyal portrayed as Robin plays the typical, over possessive boyfriend from Punjab a north Indian province. And he is not exactly thrilled by Anu’s tall ambitions. Robin attempts to convince his lady love to change her mind but remains largely unsuccessful.
And before we all know it, Anu is busy making her home in her new found proverbial city of dreams. Mumbai (Bombay), as we know it, greets her with its dark embrace. And as clichéd or trite as it may sound, the young aspirant sure enough is lost, confused and frustrated in a giant web of the murky and sleazy Indian film industry.
On the parallel, her over obsessive boyfriend has lost every inch of his patience considering the fact that it’s been three long months that his girl has been away. Unfortunately, conversations between him and Anu have also remain confined to the cellular for all those months.
After futile attempts at landing a decent role in the industry, Anu finally gets shortlisted to play a leading role in a movie. Ajay Gehi who portrays himself as Ashish helps Anu to get a foothold of the industry. With subsequent interactions, both Ashish and Anu start to get a tad acquainted with one another.
So after a late night at the local discotheque with friends, the two decide to part ways with the rest of the gang and eventually end up at the soon to be young starlet’s home.
It would be over excessive to even suggest as to what happens next. If you are somebody who lives and dwells in Mumbai, India or any other part of this country, you would know exactly what I mean.
The most interesting part about the movie is how Ram Gopal Varma manages to keep our attention on the screen from start to finish. It just grabs you by the throat and never lets go. Deepak Dobriyal who plays Robin showcases a top of the variety type of a performance. There are comparisons of Dobriyal made to a younger Nana Patekar. Although those familiar with Japanese film noir, would see shades of Takashi Matsuyama from Takashi Shimuzu‘s Ju-On, also popularly known as The Grudge. And sometimes shades of Vladimar Mashkov of 15 Minutes fame, which was directed by none other than John Herzfeld.
Mahi Gill plays a convincing role of a young starlet and continues to bedazzle the audience in every sequence of the film. Zakir Hussain who plays a smart cop is yet another highlight of the film.
The camera work is excellent, with plenty of daylight shots done up with a handy cam. The supermarket sequence was incidentally shot with a hi-end cell phone camera. And although these filming techniques are pretty common amongst underground Japanese/ Korean movies, it seldom appears to look stripped.
The camera work is excellent, with plenty of daylight shots done up with a handy cam. The supermarket sequence was incidentally shot with a hi-end cell phone camera. And although these filming techniques are pretty common amongst underground Japanese/ Korean movies, it seldom appears to look stripped.
The editing is top notch, however the production values were slightly tacky from my point of view. Again, with all due respect to the film’s budget, I still felt that there was mighty scope for improvement. To highlight this example, I should say that RGV’s production team could have further darkened the atmosphere, as some areas remained unexplored. But I can guarantee that wouldn’t really spoil your movie watching experience.
Without giving away too much of the story, I must add that everyone in the movie did their bit to showcase talent. Undoubtedly, character developments of the protagonists are first rate.
Without giving away too much of the story, I must add that everyone in the movie did their bit to showcase talent. Undoubtedly, character developments of the protagonists are first rate.
The torture sequence at the station house and the courtroom drama towards the end of the film at times makes you recollect Kashyap’s Black Friday (2005), although this one has a totally different take from the erstwhile.
Throughout the film you have this general feeling of uneasiness and high tension. And, I must admit that several scenes are not highly recommended for the squeamish or the fainthearted. Such sequences would make fans of mainstream cinema squirm and literally pass out. You have been FOREWARNED! I was slightly disheartened because the epilogue made things slightly abrupt towards the end, but hey I don’t want to sound whiny.
Now there are many, who would suggest that RGV has been highly insensitive about the actual event that occurred in the summer of 2008. However, RGV has simply tried to gauge the psyche of the two ordinary citizens, who carried out the crime in a ghastly fashion on one Wednesday morning. So much, that it sounds too good to be true.
I won’t go on the record to say that this one of Ram Gopal Varma’s best, but is definitely one of his creative efforts. Although I digress, that this is cult cinema, which should remain largely confined to the niche audience.
That being said, I would also like to recommend you to watch this in a cinema hall that’s close to you. I say this only because RGV’s movies generally carry a theatrical feel (Bhoot, Vaastushastra, Phoonk etc).
But if that doesn't seem to be a viable option, then you should probably cop the DVD.
But if that doesn't seem to be a viable option, then you should probably cop the DVD.
The DVD is currently available on
To take a sneak peek at the promo, you just have to simply, U know it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kNXkFv-UpU
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