Pradeep(Pradeep Ranganathan) and Nikita(Ivana) are lovers who decide to take their relationship to the next level. They approach Nikita’s dad(Satyaraj) for the same. He puts a crazy condition and asks the couple to exchange their phones for a day; if they end up without any issues, he will say yes to their wedding. The couple agrees to the condition, unaware that this small step can change their lives in a significant way. What happens next in their lives is the whole story of the film.
Would you exchange your mobile phone with your significant other for a day? The lead couple of director Pradeep Ranganathan’s sophomore film – Uttaman Pradeep (Pradeep Ranganathan) and Nikitha (Ivana) – are forced to do so by the latter’s dad, which comes across as a sly ploy to pry them apart. And it works. The couple, who keep telling each other corny lines like “Enaku unna pathi ellam theriyum, baby (I know everything about you, baby)”, realize the truth in that one day. Like how Nikitha is still in touch with her ex-boyfriend, who she still fondly calls “Mamakutttyyyy,” or how Uttaman Pradeep keeps sliding into the DMs of women under the pretext of approaching them for his short film. As they dig deep into each other’s phones, trust issues creep up and put a question mark on their relationship.
“I know everything about you,” says Pradeep Uthaman to his girlfriend Nikitha (Ivana), whom he believes to be his world. After a couple of clichéd romantic sequences between them, we are introduced to Nikitha’s strict, orthodox father (Sathyaraj), who brings about a major twist in their love story. He makes the couple exchange their phones for a day, promising that he’ll get them married if all goes well.
Trouble begins when Pradeep and Nikitha discover some dark secrets about each other. While Pradeep explores Nikitha’s phone in the first half, Nikitha finds out that her boyfriend is worse than she ever imagined in the second. Will they come to terms despite all differences and opinions, and win back the trust they had with each other?
Love Today is a fun-filled take on modern-day love and how mobile phones can actually tell who we really are when we are alone. If this story had been a one-sided affair, it would have been the most toxic screenplay ever written. However, Pradeep has handled it well and tried his best to tell a story about flawed people with different perspectives. In the process, he also conveys how trust can actually make any relationship a successful one.
The screenplay would have fallen flat if everything was about the lead characters, but kudos to the director who has managed to weave in an interesting secondary track involving the Raveena Ravi and Yogi Babu. Yogi Babu plays the role of Pradeep’s sister Divya’s (Raveena) fiancée, and his performance is really good. Towards the end, the film also explores the effects of body-shaming and the emotions the victim is made to go through.
Though the film has some exaggerations and flaws, they are forgivable as the film is entertaining for the most part. Pradeep seems to have understand the pulse of his audience and incorporated many fun moments that would definitely strike a chord with youngsters.
As an actor, he has done a fairly convincing job. Though his screen presence is good, he will need to work a little bit more when it comes to handling emotional sequences. As Nikitha, Ivana has done a neat job. Her performance towards the climax is quite natural. Though Sathyaraj has less screen time, it’s because of his performance that the screenplay gets elevated midway. He is just perfect and makes things more interesting. Radikaa Sarathkumar plays Pradeep’s mother, a role that suits her well. Akshaya Udayakumar, who plays Ivana’s sister, and Raveena Ravi, too, have given their best. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score helps elevate the emotions towards the climax.
