Love Me (2024 Indian film)

Last updated

Love Me
Love Me If You Dare (2024 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byArun Bhimavarapu
Written byArun Bhimavarapu
Produced by
  • Harshith Reddy
  • Hanshitha Reddy
  • Naga Mallidi
Starring
Cinematography P. C. Sreeram
Edited bySantosh Kamireddy
Music by M. M. Keeravani
Production
company
Release date
  • 25 May 2024 (2024-05-25)
Running time
128 minutes [1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

Love Me (also marketed as Love Me If You Dare) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language romantic horror thriller film written and directed by Arun Bhimavarapu. [2] Produced by Dil Raju Productions, the film features Ashish Reddy and Vaishnavi Chaitanya in primary roles. [3]

Contents

The film was theatrically released on 25 May 2024. [4]

Plot

Arjun is a daredevil YouTuber known for investigating unsolved mysteries and taking on challenges that others avoid. He lives with Pratap, his childhood friend. Pratap in search of interesting content, expresses his interest in knowing whereabouts of a girl from his childhood and seeks help from his girlfriend Priya in tracing the girl. Long ago, there was a large bungalow in their village. A married couple enter it one day and even after years, no one in the village saw the woman. Every night at 8pm, an alarm goes off and there would be loud crying noises from the bungalow that last an hour. After 7 years, one day, the woman comes out but completely caught in fire. The burning woman walks on the street and eventually dies. Next day, some villagers dare to go into the building when they find the husband dead but are shocked to see a kid. This is the girl Pratap wants to know about.

Priya informs Pratap that the girl after growing up, committed suicide after losing her husband to an accident on the day of marriage, and turned into a ghost Divyavathi, in the apartment they are supposed to move into post marriage. Arjun, who overhears the story decides to go the apartment committed to know about Divyavathi. Inspite of rumours that the ghost kills whoever enters that abandoned apartment, Arjun walks in and expresses his desire to her to know more. He enquires the builder and he shows the photo clicked of her at the under construction apartment during a visit before her marriage. The builder also confirms that he heard about the suicide from the workers and he never actually saw her dead body. Arjun believes her to be alive and loves her. He never tries to look at her, attempts to please her by offering gifts and invites her for a date. Pratap arrives there with Priya and Pinky and tries to convince that there is only ghost in the house and the girl is dead. To prove it, they dig up her grave and Pinky reconstructs the face and it matches with that of the picture shared by the builder. Distressed, Arjun goes back to his normal life.

Priya attempts to console him but falls in love with him after hearing how much he loves a person who he never saw. Pratap who is in search of the kid from the building finds photos of 3 girls Pallavi, Noor, Charisma during his research and he believes the girl is likely one of them. However, it doesn't match with that of Divyavathi. He, Arjun and Priya continue the search and gets to know that all the girls were reported missing. They also learn about connected deaths of 3 women, each reported on the following day of the missing report but the names don't match. Pallavi goes missing and the death report is of Vennela. Noor goes missing and the report is of Pallavi. Charisma goes missing and the death report is of Noor. Amid the confusion, Arjun digs up all 3 bodies and has Pinky reconstruct the faces which leaves everyone confused. Pinky unsolves the mystery. In all 3 deaths, faces are beyond recognizable and the girl they were searching for should have taken advantage of that to swap her identity each time.

Arjun goes alone to the grave at night where he finds the girl in the wedding attire and it turns out to be Priya. She tells her side of the story. During her childhood, no one knew about her existence except one boy who offered her a ribbon box as a present through the window. After her parents die, a police officer rescues her and she is adopted by a loving family. She is haunted by the memories of her mother facing torture and she finally committing suicide by alighting herself. The adopted family used to have a kid called Vennela who died early. Now, this girl dresses up as Vennela to earn love from the parents. She lives happily for few years but then the trauma hits her back when the parents also die. She is made fun of by her fellow students in college because of her trauma driven behaviour. She comes across an accident spot, where Pallavi died and she swaps her id card with that of dead body and assumes the name of Pallavi and moves on. Meanwhile, Police declare Vennela to be dead but she still carries the trauma. Similarly, she assumes identities of Noor and Charisma when they die by accidents.

One day, she watches a youtube video of Pratap where she spots the ribbon box and becomes friends with him under a new identity Priya. They both fall in love and she is happy again until now. When Pratap wanted to learn about the kid from the building, she created a fake story of Divyavathi based on the suicide she learned about online to keep Pratap away from the truth. But since Arjun went in search of Divyavathi, she had to scare him off. However, she falls in love with Arjun instead after she got to know about his acceptance and love for a person he never saw. Arjun tells her that her way of dealing with trauma through escape has to change. He says she is going to get even more sadness now but she has to deal with it properly as he stabs himself and dies in her hands.

Priya doesn't change her identity now but lives through in good ways. One day, she goes to Pratap to console him about Arjun's death when he packing Arjun's stuff. Then she learns the boy who gifted her ribbon is not Pratap but Arjun. She collapses after she connects the dots. Arjun has been in love with her from childhood and he dared to enter the apartment only because of that and accepted her the way she was. After few days she receives a notification about Arjun's youtube channel and she rushes to the graveyard where Arjun greets her. He didn't die but hatched a rescue plan with the help of Pinky after he stabs himself. Since Priya has now learned how to deal with trauma as Arjun wished, they both unite. On the day of their first night, Arjun mentions it is not their first time getting together to which Priya expresses shock. Then it is revealed that the person who Arjun united with on one of the nights, during his stay in the apartment is the ghost of real Divyavathi which is still in the apartment.

Cast

Production

The film was announced and started filming in late 2023. Vaishnavi Chaitanya was announced as the lead actress, in December 2023. [5] The motion poster of the film was revealed in February 2024, [6] whereas filming was completed in March 2024. [7]

Soundtrack

Love Me
Soundtrack album by
Released2024
Recorded2024
LanguageTelugu
Label T-Series
Producer M. M. Keeravani
M. M. Keeravani chronology
Naa Saami Ranga
(2024)
Love Me
(2024)
Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit
(2024)

The film's soundtrack album and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani. The first song "Raavaali Raa" was released on 30 March 2024. [8]

All lyrics are written by Chandrabose; all music is composed by M. M. Keeravani

Track list
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Raavaali Raa"Amala Chebolu, Gomathi Iyer, Aditi Bhavaraju, Ajmal Fatima Parveen, Sai Shreya2:57
2."Stupid Heart"Sai Shreya3:58
3."Raavaali Raa (Vaishnavi)"Vaishnavi Chaitanya3:03
4."Em Avuthundo"Niteesh Kondiparthi, Gomathi Iyer3:44

Release

Love Me was initially scheduled to release on 25 April 2024. The film was rescheduled and released on 25 May 2024 citing production delays, 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election and 2024 Indian Premier League. [9] [10]

Post-theatrical digital streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video was premiered on 14 June 2024. [11] It was later premiered on Aha on 17 June 2024. [12] [13]

Reception

Times Now's Sasidhar Adivi opined that the screenplay is "overdone and fluffy" which made the film a letdown. [14] 123telugu gave a rating of 2.25 out of 5 stating, "Love Me tries to be a unique horror thriller but ends up being a silly and unconvincing flick", while praising Ashish's performance. [15] Echoing the same NTV gave the same rating while criticising the screenplay and pace of the film. [16] 10TV gave a rating of 2.75 out of 5 and gave a mixed review. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naga Chaitanya</span> Indian actor (born 1986)

Akkineni Naga Chaitanya, known professionally as Naga Chaitanya, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He has received one Filmfare Award South and one Nandi Award for his work.

<i>Mr. Perfect</i> (film) 2011 Indian Telugu-language film

Mr. Perfect is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by Dasaradh, and produced by Dil Raju. The film stars Prabhas, Kajal Agarwal and Taapsee Pannu while Murali Mohan, Prakash Raj, Sayaji Shinde, Vennela Kishore,, Srinivas Avasarala Nassar, and K. Vishwanath play supporting roles. The film released on 22 April 2011 to positive reviews and was a blockbuster. The film won the newly incorporated Nagi Reddy Memorial Award for "Best Telugu Family" entertainer for the year 2011. The film's title is based on a song from Arya 2.

<i>Ishq</i> (2012 film) 2012 film

Ishq (transl. Love) is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by Vikram Kumar. The film was produced by Vikram Goud under Shresht Movies banner. The film features Nithiin and Nithya Menen in the lead roles with Ajay in a pivotal role. Cinematography for the film was handled by P. C. Sreeram and the music was composed by Anup Rubens.

<i>Tadakha</i> 2013 film by Kishore Kumar Pardasani

Tadakha (transl. Mettle) is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasani. A remake of the 2012 Tamil film Vettai, the film stars Naga Chaitanya, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sunil and Andrea Jeremiah. Ashutosh Rana, Nagendra Babu and Vettai Muthukumar reprise their roles from the original film, while Brahmanandam and Vennela Kishore play supporting roles. The music is composed by S. Thaman.

<i>Vennela 1½</i> 2012 Indian film

Vennela 1+12 is a 2012 Telugu film directed by Vennela Kishore. It is a sequel to the 2005 Telugu film Vennela by Deva Katta. It stars Chaitanya Krishna, Monal Gajjar, Bramhanandam & Vennela Kishore in the lead. Sunil Kashyap provided the music. It was released on 21 September 2012.

<i>Bhai</i> (2013 film) 2013 Indian film

Bhai (transl. Brother) is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film, produced by Nagarjuna Akkineni under Annapurna Studios and directed by Veerabhadram Chowdary in association with Reliance Entertainment. It stars Nagarjuna Akkineni and Richa Gangopadhyay, with music composed by Devi Sri Prasad.

<i>Chandamama Kathalu</i> 2014 Indian film

Chandamama Kathalu: Volume 1 is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language anthology film directed by Praveen Sattaru and produced by Chanakya Bhooneti. The film has eight substories revolving around love. The lives of the central characters in the sub-plots get intertwined with each other. The film features an ensemble cast including Kishore, Lakshmi Manchu, Naga Shourya, Aamani, Naresh, Krishnudu, Chaitanya Krishna, Abhijeeth Poondla, Richa Panai, Chaitanya Krishna, and Krishneswara Rao, while Soumya Bollapragada makes a special appearance.

<i>Pandaga Chesko</i> 2015 Indian Telugu-language masala film

Pandaga Chesko (transl. Celebrate) is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language masala film directed by Gopichand Malineni and produced by Paruchuri Kireeti on the United Movies banner. The film stars Ram, Rakul Preet Singh and Sonal Chauhan and Sampath Raj, Abhimanyu Singh, Sai Kumar, Adithya, Brahmanandam, Rao Ramesh, Pavitra Lokesh, Tejaswi Madivada, Vennela Kishore and Raghu Babu in other important roles. The story was penned by Veligonda Srinivas and the screenplay was provided by Kona Venkat and Anil Ravipudi, with the former writing the dialogues. S. Thaman composed the music, while Sameer Reddy and Gautham Raju handled the cinematography and editing of the film, respectively.

<i>Pratap</i> (film) 1993 Indian film

Pratap is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language action film written, directed and produced by Arjun. The film stars himself, Khushbu, Janagaraj, Devan and Rocky. It was released on 16 April 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sai Pallavi</span> Indian actress (born 1992)

Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan is an Indian actress and dancer who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Filmfare Awards South and two South Indian International Movie Awards. She was featured by Forbes magazine as one of India's 30 Under 30 in 2020.

<i>Premam</i> (2016 film) 2016 Telugu-language film by Chandoo Mondeti

Premam (transl. Love) is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language coming-of-age romantic drama film co-written and directed by Chandoo Mondeti. It is a remake of the 2015 Malayalam film of the same name, and features Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Haasan, portraying the respective roles played by Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi in the original, whilst Madonna Sebastian and Anupama Parameswaran reprise their roles from the original. Venkatesh and Nagarjuna appear in guest roles. The plot shows Vikram and his friends' life from teenage to adulthood.

Sneha Geetham is a 2010 Telugu-language coming of age drama film written and directed by Madhura Sreedhar Reddy and produced by Sridhar Lagadapati. It features three pairs Sundeep Kishan, Suhani Kalita, Chaitanya Krishna, Venky Atluri and Shreya Dhanwanthary in lead roles. The film also stars Krishnudu, Shankar Melkote and Vennela Kishore in pivotal roles. This film was shot in 52 working days and was released with 35 prints. Sundeep Kishan was chosen from six thousand men.

<i>Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi</i> 2017 film directed by Kishore Tirumala

Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Kishore Tirumala. Produced by Sravanthi Ravi Kishore and Krishna Chaitanya, under Sravanthi Cinematics and PR Cinemas, it stars Ram Pothineni, Sree Vishnu, Lavanya Tripathi and Anupama Parameswaran.

<i>Bepannah</i> Indian television series

Bepannah is a Hindi language romantic drama television series that aired from 19 March to 30 November 2018 on Colors TV. Produced by Cinevistaas Limited, it streamed on Voot and starred Harshad Chopda and Jennifer Winget.

<i>Love Story</i> (2021 film) 2021 film by Sekhar Kammula

Love Story is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language musical romantic-drama film written and directed by Sekhar Kammula. Produced by Amigos Creations and Sree Venkateswara Cinemas, the film stars Sai Pallavi and Naga Chaitanya while Rajeev Kanakala, Devayani, Easwari Rao and Uttej play supporting roles. The film tells the story of an inter-caste relationship between Mounika (Pallavi) and Revanth (Chaitanya) who meet in the city while pursuing their dreams.

<i>Virata Parvam</i> Telugu-language historical drama film

Virata Parvam is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language period romantic action drama film written and directed by Venu Udugula, and produced by Suresh Productions and SLV Cinemas. The film stars Sai Pallavi and Rana Daggubati while Priyamani, Nandita Das, Naveen Chandra, Zarina Wahab, Easwari Rao, and Sai Chand play supporting roles. Set in Telangana region in the 1990s amidst the Naxalite movement, the film tells the story of Vennala (Pallavi), a young woman who is in pursuit of her love with Ravi Shankar (Daggubati), a Naxal leader.

The Software Devloveper, stylized as The Software DevLOVEper, is an Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy drama web series written and directed by K. Subbu. Created by Infinitum Media, the series has an ensemble cast of Shanmukh Jaswanth Kandregula, Vaishnavi Chaitanya, Pruthvi Mukka, Jhakaas Pruthvi and Iduri Sri Priya. The ten-episode series premiered on YouTube on 31 July 2020.

<i>Tharala Tar Mag!</i> Indian television series

Tharala Tar Mag! is an Indian Marathi language soap opera airing on Star Pravah which premiered from 5 December 2022. It is an official remake of Tamil TV series Roja. It is directed by Sachin Gokhale and produced by Aadesh Bandekar and Suchitra Bandekar under the banner of Soham Productions.

<i>Baby</i> (2023 film) 2023 Telugu film directed by Sai Rajesh Neelam

Baby is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language coming of age romantic drama film directed by Sai Rajesh Neelam and produced by Sreenivasa Kumar Naidu under Mass Movie Makers. The film features Anand Deverakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya and Viraj Ashwin in the lead roles.

Vaishnavi Chaitanya is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu films. She is best known for her role in the drama series The Software DevLOVEper (2020) and the film Baby (2023).

References

  1. "Love me - 'If You Dare'| BBFC". Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  2. Harsh, B. H. (22 May 2024). "Ashish: Love Me demanded a lot of maturity as an actor". Cinema Express. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  3. "'Love Me – If You Dare' set to hit theatres on May 25". Telangana Today . 24 April 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  4. "'Love Me' gets a new release date, set to hit theaters on May 25 this year". The Times of India . 24 April 2024. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  5. "Vaishnavi Chaitanya To Play Lead Role In Ashish Reddy's Next". News18 . 29 December 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  6. "Ashish and Vaishnavi's film titled 'Love Me'". Telugucinema.com . 27 February 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  7. Features, C. E. (28 March 2024). "It's a wrap for Ashish Reddy starrer Love Me: If You Dare". Cinema Express. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  8. Features, C. E. (30 March 2024). "'Raavaali Raa' from Love Me is a haunting love song". Cinema Express. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  9. "New release date for Love Me revealed". 123telugu.com . 24 April 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  10. "Reasons behind the postponement of Love Me revealed". 123telugu.com . 21 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  11. "Telugu horror thriller 'Love Me-If You Dare' quietly lands on Amazon Prime Video | Latest Telugu cinema news | Movie reviews | OTT Updates, OTT". 123telugu.com. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  12. "Love Me-If You Dare is now streaming on another OTT platform | Latest Telugu cinema news | Movie reviews | OTT Updates, OTT". 123telugu.com. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  13. Sharma, Bhavana (14 June 2024). "Love Me If You Dare OTT Release Date Confirmed". www.deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  14. Adivi, Sasidhar (25 May 2024). "Love Me If You Dare Review: This Film Is Complex And A Let down". Times Now . Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  15. "Love Me Telugu Movie Review, Ashish, Vaishnavi Chaitanya". 123telugu.com . 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  16. Chaganti, Bhargav (25 May 2024). "Love Me Review: లవ్ మీ మూవీ రివ్యూ". NTV (in Telugu). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  17. "'లవ్ మీ' మూవీ రివ్యూ.. బేబీ ఫేమ్ వైష్ణవి చైతన్య రెండో సినిమాతో హిట్ కొట్టిందా?". 10TV (in Telugu). 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.