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Modern Love Chennai review: Rooted in native culture, the anthology explores love in all its eclectic forms
What: Modern Love Chennai - The anthology series Modern Love Chennai, helmed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja under the banner of Tyler Durden and Kino Fist is the third Indian adaptation of Modern Love, the internationally acclaimed original anthology helmed by John Carney, following Modern Love Mumbai and Modern Love Hyderabad. The six-episode anthology presents an eclectic bouquet of compelling and unique love stories set in the city of Chennai that explore relationships, push boundaries, and open minds.
Modern Love Chennai synopsis
Modern Love Chennai (MLC) is a Tamil adaptation of the US Original Modern Love – hence the stories, under the aegis of six different filmmakers are transplanted in Tamil Nadu and capture the soul of Chennai and its native culture with its unique terrains and diverse inhabitants.
Directed by Akshay Sunder and written by Balaji Tharanithan explores the first flush of teenage infatuation and romance between a catholic girl, Jazmine (Sanjula Sarathi) and a new entrant to her school Milton(Chu Khoey Shang) which grows with their mutual penchant for piano and music. This episode has a lot of heart in it which is accentuated by the soul-tugging music of the maestro Ilayaraaja and cinematography by Jeeva Sankar.
In fact, Ilayaraaja has composed the music for most of the episodes, except the quirky one, “Kaadhal Enbadhu Kannula Heart Irukkura Emoji”
Starring Ritu Varma as the protagonist who navigates the myriad experiences of being in a relationship at different stages of her life. Directed by actor-turned-director Krishnakumar Ramakumar and written by Reshma Ghetala, this piece is unapologetic about putting the spotlight on the frailties of a woman who suffers multiple heartbreaks at different junctures.
Love is a unique emotion, and it has multiple dimensions to it.
Helmed by Rajumurugan is pure fun and frolic in the most unbridled form, capturing the experiences of a young girl (Sri Gouri Priya) who works in a biscuit producing factory with a ‘Paani-puri’ vendor.
MLC, apart from feel-good love stories, also offers us a mélange of intense and insightful episodes.
Imaigal made by Balaji Shakthivel, stars TJ Bhanu (who made an impressive debut in Vaazh) who plays a woman saddled with retinal degenerative disease which impairs her vision gradually. Struggling with her household chores that includes performing the routine activities of her young girl, she is overwhelmed by a deep sense of fear and insecurity when her husband proposes for a second child. Shakthivel, who is known for writing intense themes with strongly etched characters, carves a simple story around marriage with essence of love, respect and compassion.
I was profusely touched by “Paravai Kootil Vaazhum Maangal”, directed by Bharathiraja and written by Pratheep Kumar S, centers on a couple (Kishore and Ramya Nambeesan) on the verge of divorce and how the woman deals with her husband’s new found love (Vijayalakshmi).It is mature and deeply-rooted, exuding a sense of loss and lament.
Show runner Thiagarjan gets to direct the finale, “Ninaivo Oru Paravai” starring the stunning Wamiqa Gabbi, playing Sam, who is seeking therapy after a breakup and must return to his ex-boyfriend K, an aspiring filmmaker who has lost his memory after an accident. Thiaga’s piece, apart from being the longest one in the anthology and clocking at 1 hour and 8 minutes, is moody and melancholic. It gets tedious with the couple’s intellectual conversations and remembering their nice ol’ times laced with intense make-out moments and orgasms. It makes some interesting revelations – that women mostly admire other woman’s bodies but a man is certainly not comfortable with other men’s physicality. An ode to the classic Ilayaraaja’s song from Bharathiraja’s Sigappu Rojakkal, this one is marked by the director’s self-indulgence and the dazzling Wamiqa conveying myriad emotions through her eyes and ably complemented by PB.
All the stories in this anthology take viewers through the journey of exploring the very complicated, and yet very simple, emotion—love. The stories will appeal to those audiences who like to be pulled by their heart strings. Personally, I felt MLC is women-centric – the female gaze is overpowering and explores the plight of this gender more intrinsically. But unlike other Modern Love franchises which sneaked into queer love, the beauty of the anthology lies in its conventional stories and yet trying to break the boundaries within those conventions.
I go with 4 stars out of 5 for Modern Love Chennai. It has the right ingredients and flavors for each age group and characters that break out of their shackles for freedom and liberation.
The series premieres in India and across 240 countries and territories worldwide on May 18, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee