Not A Love Story

Ram Gopal Varma is known for his hard hitting, reality inspired films. Not A Love Story is his latest offering that has all the standard Ramu fare;... read more

Ram Gopal Varma is known for his hard hitting, reality inspired films. Not A Love Story is his latest offering that has all the standard Ramu fare; a thrilling storyline, spinning camerawork, some gritty editing and dramatic performances. But the movie fails to engage and reach its full potential.

First up, the performances. Deepak Dobriyal is now a thorough thespian who really gets under the skin of his characters and delivers them with conviction. But Mahie Gill works as the surprise package as her buxom personality and gasping sobs remind us of Urmila Matondkar of the yore. Even the stylish hairstyle is in place.

The story is one which we are familiar with and Ramu churns it through his regular fancy low angle and hand-held camera movement. The film acquires a grainy look sometimes in the middle making one wonder if it is just another student film project that uses gimmicks to raise an otherwise redundant screenplay. The story never really manages to pull you in completely.

So the real question is whether Ramu really is a genius who can do thriller better than anyone else in the country or is he still a cinema student resorting to filmi widgets to fool an unsuspecting audience. Whatever it is, Ram Gopal Varma is still one of the better filmmakers in a pool of insipid idiots. With Not A Love Story he proves just that.

Do I recommend it? Sure. This desi thriller is one of the better ones to have come out this side of Johnny Gaddar by Sriram Raghavan, even if it does not fully compare in terms of style and technique. I m going with three stars and yet another half for Ramu to have finally come to his senses.view less

For the first time in India a film does not have a DP (director of Photography). What RGV does is bring in a team of students from an institute and... read more

For the first time in India a film does not have a DP (director of Photography). What RGV does is bring in a team of students from an institute and credits them as visual compositors (if I read it right). The film is also edited by a bunch of students from the same institute.

Not a love story is about one moment gone wrong. Clearly inspired by the Neeraj Grower murder case but this is RGVs version of it. If you have seen the promos or have seen RGVs recent films you must have either got immune to his camera angles or given up on him and his films by now. Here, since he shoots with multiple digital cameras that are small in size he goes all out and having young students given the free reign to ogle at Mahie Gill with their cameras for a major part of the film helps. They could have never asked for a better debut. Watching Mahie Gill in those camera angles is a voyeurs delight. Along with the camera angles what irritated me were three things. 1. The ring tone of Mahies cell phone which is set to rangeela re. In fact when Ajay Gehi and Mahie dance at her place it is to rangeela re. 2. The badly written character of Deepak Dobriyal. From the moment he kills Ajay Gehi the character came across as a psycho. 3. Deepak Dobriyals eye popping portrayal of the character. He is one of my favorite actors but this is one performance I would like to forget.

What I liked is how the film takes a turn once Mahie is arrested and the multiple points of view it presents. After Nishabd this is one RGV film that worked for me in parts. At least it didnt irritate me. Mahie Gill is the only actor worth leching oops watching in the film. She goes through a gamut of emotions except anger. She is never shown angry. Wonder why?

Final few words: Not a love story is a lust story. A voyeurs dream come true. Ogle at Mahie Gill and learn the art of popping your eyes out from Deepak Dobriyal.

Rating: **

Ticket meter: Worth 100/- bucks.
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Three years ago, a sensationally disturbing real-life occurrence gripped the country. The last thing it asked for was a visual demonstration. But w... read more

Three years ago, a sensationally disturbing real-life occurrence gripped the country. The last thing it asked for was a visual demonstration. But what can skip the stern eye of filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma? There, the accused had barely settled themselves with their dramatically altered lifestyles, here apna Ramu gathered a crew, hired the most apt looking actors and landed on to the same building where the gruesome killing of Neeraj Grover had occurred. Yes, Not a Love Story - a largely real account of the Neeraj Grover hacking, was shot exactly at the flat above the floor where the murder actually took place.

If Ramu decidedly had to venture into this sensitively controversial zone, and carve a film out of it, perhaps he could have shown some more guts. With a basic structure ready, all that was required were a couple of plot points, to catch the spectator unsuspecting. But alas, he - probably too anxious with the source material, and excited as well, just decided to document the events precisely the way wed visualize it, according to the media reports.

And that, dear friends, is Not a Love Story's biggest flaw. The film follows the events as they assumingly occurred, which is not totally bad, but it steals away all the excitement of anticipation, or the anxiety of a surprise twist.

Mahie Gill enacts Maria Susairaj, here named Anusha Chawla - an outsider in the city with Bollywood dreams. When a certain production executive Aashish (Neeraj Grover, in real) promises her a film role, it is time for celebrations. Both get to sensual proximity at her apartment, and when Deepak Dobriyals Robbin - Anushas boyfriend (real life Jeorome) unexpectedly lands at her door, he is in for a visual shock and in the spur of the moment, a minor dispute turns fatal for Aashish - who is ruthlessly killed in cold-blood by him.

The ensuing series of events are both - visually ghastly to focus on, and psychologically eerie to dwell upon. And both, at least while watching the film, are unavoidable. And this because of the genuinely remarkable fashion they are portrayed.

It was one thing to criticize RGVs films due to shallow content, or lack of focus, but they never quite came under scrutiny for an ineffective direction. Not a Love Story's brooding storyline, although predictable by default, yields quite sinister moments because of its gloomy treatment.

The actors add to the believability factor, although I'd like it better if Deepak Dobriyal gave up that one expression where his eyes threaten to pop-out any moment. That is his way of emoting insanity, I guess. And it works, although initially. Then, he starts looking gravely disturbed, or surprised by himself.

Mahie Gill portrays the psychological crisis of Anusha Chawla with disturbing ease. Her character is caught in the crossfire between her unfulfilled dreams and a crass love affair, and she's perplexed as to where her loyalties really belong. The uncertainty that leads to a nervous breakdown is brought out realistically by Gill, who is by any measure, a naturally talented actress. The supporting cast gives what is expected of them, nobody exceptionally stands out.

Ramu's fixation with the camera that maniacally moves remains untouched and here, leads to some bizarre and unintentionally funny moments. It appears as if the device has been diagnosed with Parkinson's and hence can't be normal or stable. Add to it, the distinctly imposing background score which miserably tries to heighten the insane drama. For once, would it hurt, Ramu, to keep things within a set barrier, when you already had some explosive content to blow?

Moreover, the film actually portrays the two central protagonists as people bounded by corruptly insane, yet immortal love, and this one sequence, which is also the film's climax, will change quite a few calculations, however unbelievable the emotion might seem.

The most unpleasant part of the film, and no doubt many of the viewers will feel it to, is the uneasiness that one goes through while witnessing the lunacy. The mere fact, that two absolutely ordinary looking couple, leading perfectly normal lives can suddenly get embroiled in such mind-numbing dirt, and the fact that all of this actually has happened, and is not an adapted-from-novel account or taken from a legend, leaves you unnerved.

If that is what Ramu set out to achieve - he has hit a masterstroke. However, if he was cunning enough to manipulate the events - a sudden shock value would have enhanced the evilness sharply.
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No matter how hard Ramu may try denying it and may actually go blue in the face, the fact of the matter is that his 'Not A Love Story' is too close... read more

No matter how hard Ramu may try denying it and may actually go blue in the face, the fact of the matter is that his 'Not A Love Story' is too closely inspired from the horrible murder involving Sandalwood actress Maria Susairaj and her naval officer beau to be a sheer coincidence. There is an uncanny resemblance that simply refuses to go away no matter how hard you shoo it from the interiors of your mind and soul.


So with Maria Susairaj an up-coming Bangalore actress who shifted to Mumbai to try her luck in serials and films being changed into Anusha Chawla a Punjabi model and aspiring actress having arrived in Mumbai from Chandigarh while her obsessed Naval Officer lover Emile Jerome Mathew being transformed into Robin Fernandez, while the victim Neeraj Grover is changed into Ashish Bhatnagar. Yet none of this changes the fact that Ramgopal Verma was dead serious to encash on this sordid sex crime and thus he pushed against time to complete the film post haste in order to make the most of this murder most foul and the end result is 'Not A Love Story'.


In fact if reports are to be believed the film has actually been shot in the same building that housed Maria's rented flat to give the film an authentic feel and an eerie effect. Not just that some very disturbing and seedy events from Maria and Emile's confession statement have also been shamelessy incorporated into the film the highlight being the love making between the couple infront of the corpse not once but twice and the chopping of the body into 300 tiny pieces before disposing it off in the jungles in six plastic bags.


Who says fiction is not inspired from facts need to see this film. Two normal people mad in love can actually stoop so low as to not just commit such a ghastly crime in a moment of passionate madness is not what is so surprising.What is actually shocking is the cold and ruthless manner in which the two actually disposed of the body hand in glove and returned to their normal existence as though nothing had ever happened. Had something like this been done by a seasoned or professional killer it could well be digested but coming from an ambitious and sexually manipulative actress and a naval oficer is what is truly disturbing.


Even though Ramgopal Verma has gone the way of Mahesh Bhatt shamelessly encashing on other peoples miseries yet there is no denying that if you put aside all the controversies surrounding the film then the fact of the matter is that this is indeed one of Ramu's finest film as it grips you from the very first frame and keeps you engrossed to your seat till the very last scene and that says a lot about his skills as a director par excellence. Indeed a genius like Mahesh Bhatt in more ways than one.


Coming to the artistes Mahie Gill has allowed herself to be exploited to the hilt and considering she gave her consent her performance is smooth flowing and highly impressive. The last time she gave her director such liberties was during Dev.D and sure enough Anurag Kashyap made her stand out even though the film belonged to Kalki. Here 'Not A Love Story' is actually her film and giving Ramu a free hand has only enhanced her performance thus making it the finest film of her career to date. Maybe what Ramu did for Urmila and Jiah Khan in the past shall be repeated once again for Mahie Gill too.


People who have been following Mahie Gill shall be shocked to see how liberally she has been exposed and her vital statistics exposed with unique camera angles that almost stoop to sheer voyeurism as they pan up her mini skirts or zoom down her exposed boobs and not once does she flinch. Wonder how her family shall react when they see their daughter's finest performance?


Apart from Mahie Gill who simply steals the show it is Deepak Dobriyal as Robin who gives another sterling performance after Tanu Weds Manu and Teen They Bhai. From the actual crime hogging the entire film if anything else actually holds your attention apart from the liberal peek a boo's and glimpses of Mahie's satin thighs it's the court room drama that is truly engrossing as it is picturised in a manner that arrests the audience attention.


All said and done after a real long time Ramgopal Verma has rediscovers his old magic and he needs to thank Maria Susairaj, her lover Emile Jerome Mathew and even Neeraj Grover without whom 'Not A Love Story' would never have been possible!!!

REVIEWED BY THE LIP SHANDIL
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