Love Today is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Pradeep Ranganathan and produced by AGS Entertainment. The film stars Pradeep (in his debut as lead actor), alongside Ivana, Raveena Ravi, Yogi Babu, Sathyaraj, Radhika Sarathkumar, Akshaya Udayakumar, Prathana Nathan, Adithya Kathir and Aajeedh Khalique. It is an adaptation of Pradeep's short film App(a)Lock (2020). The film follows a youngster who must swap his phone with his girlfriend for 24 hours before their marriage under the command of the girl's suspicious father.
The film was officially announced in October 2021 under the tentative title AGS 22, as it is the production banner's 22nd venture, and the official title was announced in July 2022. Principal photography commenced in December 2021. It was predominantly shot in Chennai, and wrapped by late-July 2022. The film has music cooked by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography handled by Dinesh Purushothaman, and editing by Pradeep E. Ragav.
Love Today was released theatrically on 4 November 2022. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing ₹105 crore against a budget of ₹5 crore.[3] The film was remade in Hindi as Loveyapa (2025).
Plot
Pradeep, a support engineer at Cognizant in Chennai, lives with his widowed mother Saraswathi and elder sister Divya. He is in a romantic relationship with Nikitha, a software engineer at Infosys and daughter of Venu Sastri, a strict lawyer. Though they wish to marry, Pradeep hesitates due to Venu's rigid nature. When Venu discovers their relationship, he invites Pradeep home, pretending to discuss marriage but instead proposes a challenge: Pradeep and Nikitha must swap phones for 24 hours with full access. If they remain in love afterward, he will approve their marriage. They reluctantly agree, and Pradeep, having sanitized his WhatsApp messages, feels relieved.
Pradeep returns home to manage Divya's upcoming wedding to Dr. Yogi, a mild-mannered dentist. Encouraged by friends, Pradeep checks Nikitha's phone and finds chats with Revi, her male best friend who has a one-sided love for her, and messages from her ex-boyfriend Mamakutty. He is further upset to learn that Nikitha had recently gone on a night drive to Puducherry with Mamakutty, lying to Pradeep. A confrontation follows, straining their relationship. Pradeep then proposes extending the phone swap until Divya's wedding, which Venu readily agrees to, secretly asking Nikitha to restore Pradeep's deleted WhatsApp messages.
Meanwhile, Divya becomes suspicious of Yogi's secretive behavior with his phone. Learning about Pradeep's phone swap, she proposes the same with Yogi, who refuses. Multiple failed attempts to access Yogi's phone further strain their relationship.
Nikitha soon discovers Pradeep's porn addiction and flirtatious chats with multiple girls, including efforts to solicit photos under the pretext of offering acting opportunities. Unbeknownst to her, Pradeep has a second Instagram account, created during college for explicit messaging using a fake female identity. This account had even messaged Nikitha and her younger sister Shwetha, though Pradeep himself wasn't the sender. Fearing exposure and legal trouble, Pradeep meets Nikitha at a restaurant to retrieve his phone and log out of the account. Yogi overhears Pradeep's friends discussing the issue and advises them to log out from another device using an OTP.
However, Revi intercepts the OTP and exposes Pradeep, leading to a heated argument and their breakup. Pradeep, furious at Revi's interference, assaults him but is stopped by restaurant staff. Later, during Divya's wedding reception, Pradeep suspects his friend Mani of operating the account and blames him, despite Mani's denials.
Amidst this turmoil, Divya and Yogi argue over the latter's phone secrecy. In frustration, Pradeep attempts to snatch Yogi's phone but is stopped by Saraswathi. Breaking down, he confides in his mother about his breakup. Saraswathi consoles him, emphasizing the importance of trust in relationships. Yogi later reveals to Pradeep that he hid his phone due to embarrassment over being mocked for his appearance. He feared Divya would reject him if she saw the ridicule he faced. Overhearing this, Divya appreciates Yogi's vulnerability and reconciles with him, deciding not to look at his phone. Pradeep also patches up with Mani and his friends.
Meanwhile, a pornographic video, seemingly involving Nikitha, goes viral. Venu, believing the video, assaults and disowns her, despite her pleas that it is fake. Heartbroken, Nikitha leaves home and sits alone at a beach, where Pradeep finds and consoles her. He reveals that he and his friends tracked down the perpetrator: Nikitha's colleague Kaushik, who had created a deepfake video for online attention. Kaushik is arrested, and Pradeep and Nikitha reconcile. Venu apologizes for his mistrust and reveals the true purpose of the phone swap—to test the strength of their relationship. Seeing they have overcome all hurdles, he blesses their marriage.
The film ends with the message that trust is the foundation of peace in relationships.
Sandy Master (special appearance in the song "Saachitale")
Production
Development
After the success of Comali (2019), Pradeep Ranganathan announced his next project which would be produced by Kalapathi S. Aghoram under the banner of AGS Entertainment under the tentative title as AGS 22.[4] It was reported that the project would be an adaptation of Ranganathan's short film App(a) Lock.[5] Later, the title was announced to be Love Today, which was taken from the 1997 film of the same name and would mark Pradeep's debut as an actor in a leading role.[6] The makers unveiled the first look poster of the film on 4 July 2022.[7]
Casting and filming
Ivana, who previously appeared in films like Naachiyaar (2018) and Hero (2019), was signed in to play the female lead,[8] while Yogi Babu, who previously collaborated with the director in Comali, was signed on to play a supporting role. At the same time, Raveena Ravi and veteran actors Sathyaraj and Radhika Sarathkumar were also confirmed to be a part of this film.[9] Principal photography began in December 2021.[10] On 22 July 2022, it was announced that the entire shooting of the film was wrapped.[11]
The music and original score are cooked by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The album includes a mix of romantic, fun, and emotional songs, with all lyrics penned by Pradeep Ranganathan. [12][13][14][15] The music was acclaimed by critics and the audience.[16]
Love Today was released theatrically on 4 November 2022.[17][18] The distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu were acquired by Udhayanidhi Stalin under the banner of Red Giant Movies.[19] The film was distributed and released in the UK by Ahimsa Entertainment.[20] After the film's success, Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations presented the dubbed Telugu version, which was released on 25 November.[21][22]
Home media
The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were sold to Netflix,[23] while the satellite rights were sold to Kalaignar TV.[24] The film began streaming on Netflix from 2 December 2022 in Tamil language and in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi as dubbed languages.[25][26]
Reception
Critical response
Love Today received positive reviews from both critics and audience.[citation needed]
Logesh Balachandran of The Times of India rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Overall, Love Today is an entertaining watch and is a perfect outing for the weekend."[27] Vishal Menon of Film Companion wrote, "by settling for instant gratification from its comedy rather than investigating in its broader, more meaningful themes, Love Today too settles for the ordinary."[28] Vignesh Madhu of Cinema Express rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "It is a film about today's love, and Pradeep does a great job of ensuring that it's a story for everyone."[29] Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote "For a film that claims to be about modern-day relationships, you scratch your head thinking if there is anything modern. But you cannot complain — the 2K Kids are entertained."[30] Soundarya Athimuthu of The Quint gave the film's rating 3 out of 5 and wrote "This new age romantic entertainer emphasizes the age-old fact that 'trust' is the foundation of a relationship."[31] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "The film conveniently deals only with softcore issues that are palatable for the mainstream audience… But what about their search history, their kinks, and the truths that only our mobile phones know? Maybe, those are too dark for this film, which wants to end on a rosy note."[32] A critic for Cinema Vikatan wrote that in general, not only the lover, the beloved, but also the love changes its images and characteristics in all periods.[33]Dinamalar rated the film 3.25 out of 5 stars.[34] Akshay Kumar of DT Next gave 3.5 out of 5 gave the film's rating 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Love Today is unique for its light treatment while not getting restricted to being called a 'timepass' film."[35] Thinkal Menon of OTT Play gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Director-actor Pradeep had mentioned in one of his movie promotions that the film has been made for 2K kids. It looks like he is completely aware of his target audience and has exactly served what they need."[36]
Box office
On the first day of its release the film collected over ₹6 crores worldwide.[37] After three days of its release, the film grossed over ₹19 crore at the box office.[38] On the 11th day of its release, the film grossed ₹50 crores worldwide.[39][40] On the first week of its release, the film grossed ₹70 crore at the worldwide box office.[41] On 25 November 2022, it was reported from Pinkvilla that the film grossed over ₹50 crore from the state of Tamil Nadu.[42] The film is estimated to have grossed closer to ₹100 crore against a budget of ₹5 crore and became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of 2022.[2]
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