Created by Tamil director Thiagarajan Kumararaja, Modern Love Chennai is a warm hug on a cold winter evening. It catches you off guard when you least expect it.
‘Love’ is the recurring hero in the six-part anthology directed by Bharathiraja, Kumararaja, Akshay Sundher, Balaji Sakthivel, Rajumurugan, and Krishnakumar Ramakumar. The show is adapted from the New York Times’ Modern Love column and is the third India-centered iteration after Mumbai and Hyderabad. The Chennai edition steps away from the standard template of meet-cute moments and dives deep into the complex layers of love and romance.
Modern Love Chennai is arguably the most exciting work of fiction in Tamil OTT space. Creative director Kumararaja has ensured that each director has their own signature style rooted in common cinematic sensibilities. All the episodes are centred around strong women characters.
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Divorce, young love, companionship
Director Rajumurugan’s Lalagunda Bommaigal is about Shoba (Sri Gouri Priya) who is struggling with the remnants of an unsuccessful relationship and an abortion. Just when she least expected it, she stumbles upon Nathuram (Vasudevan Murali), a pani puri vendor, and sparks of romance emerge. The rest of the story is a running discussion on whether Shoba can live without a partner or not. But the doesn’t leave an impact.
Balaji Sakthivel’s Imaigal sheds light on the love between Nithya (Ashok Selvan) and Devi (TJ Bhanu) and how love blooms (or not) in a middle-class marriage. The story sidesteps from glowing romance and addresses the real issues of a relationship. One of the two suffers from degenerative ocular disease which means losing eyesight gradually. It is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking to witness see the couple’s struggles. The two actors ace their respective parts.
The next film, Akshay Sundher’s Margazhi, follows Jazmine (Sanjula Sarathi) a teenager who is trying to make sense of her parent’s divorce. Her love for music and companionship with Milton (Chu Khoy Sheng) offer glimpses of a happier future. The unadulterated and sweet love brewing between Jazmine and Milton is the highlight of the entire series.
Krishnakumar Ramakumar’s story Kaadhal Enbadhu Kannula Heart Irukkura Emoji is, perhaps, the weakest of the lot. Mallika (Ritu Varma) is heavily influenced by the idea of love shown in the films and somehow (no surprises there) it never works out for her. While its heart is in the right place, the story rarely picks up.
Paravai Kootil Vaazhum Maangal, directed by Bharathiraja is the story of Ravi (Kishore) and Rohini (Vijayalakshmi) who grow on each other after a chance meeting in the metro. Ravi, who is married to Revathi (Ramya Nambessan), falls in love with Rohini. The story touches upon how love survives or dies when put to test (read: divorce). Bharathiraja beautifully spells out how two people can fall out of love after being married for years. While Kishore plays his part well, the two women — Ramya and Vijaylakshmi — are the jewels of this modern-day love story.
Kumararaj’s Ninaivo Oru Paravai is his interpretation of the Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004) wherein there is no specific beginning or end. Right after Sam (Wamiqa Gabbi) and K (PB) end their relationship, K loses part of his memories in an accident. He no longer remembers their breakup. Sam then tries to resurrect those missing parts of his memory with notes she had created of their relationship’s best moments. The story is funny one moment and heart-warming the next. It is hard to gauge whether it is real, or just a figment of Sam’s imagination. Ninaivo Oru Paravai isn’t really everyone’s cup of tea, but it surely makes for an intriguing premise.
Mumbai tops the list in the three editions so far, but Chennai comes pretty close to recreating the former’s magic. It is far more memorable than the Hyderabad iteration.
By all means, Modern Love Chennai shines through and through. Even when a few underwhelming stories surface, the cumulative warmth of the remaining anthology breathes life into the Amazon Prime Video series. Bringing Thiagarajan Kumararaja on board for this anthology was the right move, no one could have done it better than him.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)