Lover is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Prabhuram Vyas in his directorial debut. Produced by Million Dollar Studios and MRP Entertainment, the film stars Manikandan, Sri Gouri Priya and Kanna Ravi with Saravanan, Geetha Kailasam, Harish Kumar, Nikhila Sankar, Rini, Pintu Pandu, Arunachaleswaran, Harini in pivotal roles. The story follows an alcoholic and unemployed designer, who tries to start a café business and is aggressively in love with Divya.
The film was released on 9 February 2024, where it received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
Arun and Divya's six-year relationship starts unraveling as they drift apart, raising the question of whether love can withstand such differences.
The story starts with Divya practicing surfing on Kovalam and spending time with her friends for a send-off party with their team lead, where she narrates her love story. Arun calls her to ask her where she is, and she claims that she's at a family function. However, he finds out that she is lying and barges into the party, creating ruckus. This causes Divya to call off their relationship.
Arun goes to his home, barely one at all, which is in shambles emotionally. He lives with his father, who is in an open extramarital affair, and his aging, working mother. Arun is a dysfunctional alcoholic designer whose business investments are in a loss too. Eventually, he and Divya get back together — but this vicious cycle of fight-trauma-apologies keeps repeating with the couple. Tired of this, Arun moves away from his friends, gets a job elsewhere, and tries to reconcile with Divya. His mother starts pushing him for marriage.
A new team lead named Madan, also a travel vlogger, enters Divya's life. Arun loses his job due to inappropriate conduct. Both of them lied to themselves so much that Divya finally decides to break up with Arun for good. Arun undergoes a further breakdown as his mother attempts to end her life. On Divya's birthday, she invites him to be part of celebrations.
The couple then plans a Gokarna trip where Arjun desperately tries to patch things up between them, but his idea of love and commitment doesn't align with Divya's. She confesses that she's in a constant state of fear that their situation will become like his parents'. This is the trigger point that made Arjun realize his mistakes, and that he needs to work on himself more rather than just clinging to their years-long relationship. After parting ways with Divya, Arjun works on his alcohol and substance abuse issues, while his mom decides to file for divorce.
Two years later, Arun has realised his dream of opening up a successful designer-cafe. There, he meets Divya again, but is a different and more well-adjusted man now. Arun still remembers Divya's perfume and serves her favorite dish.
Nikhila Shankar as Ramya, Divya's friend and flatmate
Harini as Aishwarya "Aishu", Divya's friend
Pintu Pandu
Arunachaleshwaran as Arun's friend
Production
The inaugural ceremony of the film was launched by Vijay Sethupathi, and principal photography started in August 2023.[1] In the same month, the team completed the first schedule.[2] The second schedule was held at Gokarna in Karnataka.[3][4] By the end of November 2023, the makers completed the entire shooting.[5]
Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Director Prabhuram does a fine job of humanising the characters amidst the exuberant highs and depressing lows of their relationship. The film spends a lot of time letting its leads be confronted and comforted by their friends, and the filmmaker does a brilliant job of showcasing both contemporary relationships and friendships. Be it the parallels, the lovely scores of Sean Roldan which amplify the mood of the film, or some fantastic performances from the entire cast, especially Manikandan and Sri Gouri Priya, the film has a lot going for it, making you look past its minute flaws."[8]
Manigandan KR of Times Now gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "In all, 'Lover' is a movie that might not make you laugh from start to finish. But it will most certainly hold your attention for the entire duration and get you thinking by the time it ends."[9]
M Suganth of The Times of India rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The writing tries to be truthful, reflecting the mindset of contemporary 20-somethings when it comes to relationships."[10]
Anusha Sundar of OTTplay rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Lover packs a punch in the way towards the end. There is a lot of brooding and healing that the couple gets. The film may not cover the entire healing journey, but it makes a brutally honest case for the complexities that arise in modern-day relationships, where couples don’t shy away from saying what they feel. The screenplay stagnates at times, but overall, it makes the smallest of issues the biggest. And rightfully so. Lover is a film that takes the realistic route to show how much emotional and psychological abuse can take a toll and make people do what they do. It is a film that doesn’t advocate for time stamps in a relationship. More importantly, Lover is a film that makes you want to put yourself first before those you love and care for."[11]
Vijaya Shankar O of DT Next rated 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Overall, 'Lover' isn't path-breaking in the genre of modern love like 'Livin' (both have the same ending), but it is made with such passion and poignantly conveys the meaning of moving on from a breakup. The film never glorifies Arun's actions and balances both people's viewpoints involved in love and states that letting go of someone takes a lot of time, patience, and understanding, and it is very much possible."[12]
Prashanth Vallavan of Cinema Express rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Lover fumbles in places where it tries to wring the ‘point’ out of a scene but excels in places where a lot is unsaid or unfinished and yet a lot more shines through the subtext."[13]
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