Ek Love Ya Movie Review: A deeply romantic drama with a twist of hate

With his latest outing, Ek Love Ya, director Prem has tried to delve into the theme of a love-hate relationship between youngsters with added elements of parent-children bonding.  What makes the film noteworthy is the element of curiosity that comes with the star cast comprising of newcomers like Raanna and Reeshma Nanaiah, 

The film attempts to paint a saga of true love that faces ups and downs including separations and sacrifices. The film begins with a college graduation event and introduces Amar (Raanna), a topper in school, who is fulfilling his father Shankar's (Shashikumar) wish of becoming a lawyer. However, Amar is always seen as a chain smoker and alcoholic, who is in search of Anitha, his childhood lover, whom he wants to... kill!

Cast: Raanna, Reeshma Nanaiah, Rachita Ram, Shashikumar

Direction: Prem
  
Through a flashback told to a sex worker (Ankita Naik), we are shown Amar's childhood love story that went awry and resulted in his then crush Anitha leaving with her parents to a different town. Unable to recover from the loss, Amar wants to take revenge on Anitha. As the narrative progresses, we have thrilling second half where Amar is in jail because of his love. Did Amar actually avenge his love? Is he actually innocent? Will he reclaim his love? The answers to these questions and more make this heartbreaking (at times) romantic drama watchable.

Prem's Ek Love Ya focuses on the power of true love, and is mounted on a huge canvas by Rakshita Film Factory. Although the subject taken up by the director is familiar, the topic is still relevant. The love episodes are lengthy and emotional, and the second half, which is packed with courtroom scenes fails to make the required impact.

On the acting front, Prem has managed to extract the right kind of emotions from Raanna and Reeshma Nanaiah. While Raana is saddled with a lot of responsibilities, he does manage to pull it off. Reeshma looks ravishing and justifies her role. Their on-screen chemistry, which is the lifeline of the film, is perfect. Although Rachita Ram does steal the show in her role as a lawyer, the scenes needed to be better. Senior actors like Charan Raj and Shashikumar, along with Suchendra Prasad lend depth to the narratives with their presence and performance. However, the antagonists Arjun Gowda and Yash Shetty have little presence.

Composer Arjun Janya and DoP Mahendra Simha are the strengths of Ek Love Ya. The melodious songs, perfect picturisation, and slick cinematography makes the film visually appealing. Points to the stunt choreography too for delivering a few creative sequences. With lovely locales and a colourful vibe to the proceedings, it is clear that Ek Love Ya has rich production qualities. However, the film's length does not work for the film, but the romantic drama with a solid twist is definitely a one-time watch.