'Not A Love Story';
Starring: Mahie Gill, Deepak Dobriyal, Rajesh Gehi;
Directed by: Ram Gopal Varma;
In this real life story, Ram Gopal Varma sets his sights on a horrible slice of reality and invests it with his eccentric touch for cinema with Not A Love Story. One aspect, though, that might go against the Ram Gopal Varma helmed film is the fact that the Neeraj Grover murder case has been dissected by the media to such an extent that there is no room for thrills as the viewer knows what's going to occur next…
Not A Love Story spins around Anusha (Mahie Gill), a starry eyed girl fromChandigarh
The next morning, Robin lands at her place without any advance notice and on seeing a naked Ashish walk out of her room, stabs him to death in a fit of envious rage. As Anusha gets hysterical and the significance of his impulsive act dawns on Robin, the lovers decide to get rid of the body by chopping it in pieces and burning it in a remote area of Mumbai.
The upset friends of Ashish decide to approach the cops and Anusha tags along to dispel any suspicions. Inspector Mane (Zakir Hussain) hurriedly puts two and two together and arrests Anusha on charges of murder following which Robin too is detained for the murder of Ashish. It is also discovered then that Anusha had lied to Robin about being raped by Ashish which had provoked Robin to commit the murder.
As the court trial ensues, both the lawyers of Robin and Anusha try to save their own clients by making the other accused look bad, leading to a friction between the lovers till Anusha breaks down and reconciles with Robin, admitting that she was not raped and that her dreams of making it big as an actress caused the whole tragedy. The climax scene shows the two lovers being dragged away from each other with a ticker informing the viewers that the verdict is being awaited in the case.
True to form, Dobriyal plays his role of a loose cannon lover efficiently, turning on the intensity in his eyes and body language to make the character convincing. Mahie Gill on her part is passable too in her role as the small town girl with superior dreams. Zakir Hussain's Inspector Mane who investigates the case is again a well-played role with Hussain efficiently exuding an aura of righteous menace even when he is conducting a casual questioning.
Ajay Gehl does not have much to do and regrettably, the late Rasika Joshi (one of the finest character actors in recent times) as Ashish's mother has a very small part to play in the film; same with Darshan Jariwala, who plays a defense advocate. Another fact which is commendable is Varma's refusal to pass any judgment on the horrific episode. Robin is not a bad guy per se (though one might find his feelings for Anusha obsessive and smothering) and Anusha is just like another girl in the city waiting for her dreams to come true.
On the other side, the camera work is a bit sloppy with unnecessarily jerky camera movements even where it is not needed and the camera man's tendency to focus on Mahie's legs and cleavage in almost every scene involving her.
Not A Love Story spins around Anusha (Mahie Gill), a starry eyed girl from
The next morning, Robin lands at her place without any advance notice and on seeing a naked Ashish walk out of her room, stabs him to death in a fit of envious rage. As Anusha gets hysterical and the significance of his impulsive act dawns on Robin, the lovers decide to get rid of the body by chopping it in pieces and burning it in a remote area of Mumbai.
The upset friends of Ashish decide to approach the cops and Anusha tags along to dispel any suspicions. Inspector Mane (Zakir Hussain) hurriedly puts two and two together and arrests Anusha on charges of murder following which Robin too is detained for the murder of Ashish. It is also discovered then that Anusha had lied to Robin about being raped by Ashish which had provoked Robin to commit the murder.
As the court trial ensues, both the lawyers of Robin and Anusha try to save their own clients by making the other accused look bad, leading to a friction between the lovers till Anusha breaks down and reconciles with Robin, admitting that she was not raped and that her dreams of making it big as an actress caused the whole tragedy. The climax scene shows the two lovers being dragged away from each other with a ticker informing the viewers that the verdict is being awaited in the case.
True to form, Dobriyal plays his role of a loose cannon lover efficiently, turning on the intensity in his eyes and body language to make the character convincing. Mahie Gill on her part is passable too in her role as the small town girl with superior dreams. Zakir Hussain's Inspector Mane who investigates the case is again a well-played role with Hussain efficiently exuding an aura of righteous menace even when he is conducting a casual questioning.
Ajay Gehl does not have much to do and regrettably, the late Rasika Joshi (one of the finest character actors in recent times) as Ashish's mother has a very small part to play in the film; same with Darshan Jariwala, who plays a defense advocate. Another fact which is commendable is Varma's refusal to pass any judgment on the horrific episode. Robin is not a bad guy per se (though one might find his feelings for Anusha obsessive and smothering) and Anusha is just like another girl in the city waiting for her dreams to come true.
On the other side, the camera work is a bit sloppy with unnecessarily jerky camera movements even where it is not needed and the camera man's tendency to focus on Mahie's legs and cleavage in almost every scene involving her.
Varma overacts the Rangeela angle with the title track of the movie playing every time Mahie's phone rings and by the first half of the film, the viewer starts wishing Gill could turn her phone on silent mode. Even the murder scene is not as chilling as it could have been made.
It is worthy to watch for some performances in the movie which is 'inspired' by a real life murder case that shook the city in 2008.
