Lovefully Yours Veda Movie Review: A mundane attempt to rekindle nostalgia

I don't think there's any other industry in Indian cinema that produces as many campus films as Malayalam cinema. From the times of Sarvakalashala to Classmates to Poomaram, several memorable films captured the essence of college life in Kerala. Over the years, it has become a sub-genre of sorts, with its own set of templates and formulas. But lately, there has been a clear dearth of such films. Praghesh Sukumaran's Lovefully Yours Veda (LYV) is a lacklustre attempt to take us back to that bygone era.

Director: Praghesh Sukumaran

Cast: Venkitesh, Rajisha, Sreenath Bhasi, Gautham Menon

So in LYV, most of the action is set in the sprawling Sree Varma College (SVC) in Thrissur during the late 90s. The campus is home to academics, art, and activism. While art and activism take prominence, the makers hardly show anything about the academics part. It's a pet peeve I've about campus dramas—there won't be even a mention of the courses the lead characters pursue. It's the same case with LYV as well. Except for establishing the titular character Veda (Rajisha) as a Malayalam literature student, there's no info about what the other characters in the film study. One might feel that such details won't add any value to the narrative, but the fact is that it's these details that help in world-building. For an overtly familiar story like LYV, such details would have added at least a tinge of freshness.

Glorifying the communist ideology is another recurring trope in Malayalam campus films, and LYV follows it to the T. Even when the makers try to establish SVC as an unrealistically friendly campus where all political parties perfectly co-exist, there's a clear attempt to appease the Left. The campus hero Jeevan 'Lal' (get the subtext?) is the quintessential sakhavu, who is at the forefront of all the issues plaguing the campus. Here's someone who the entire college, including the students and a section of the faculty, look up to. He constantly doles out sermons and monologues on unity, oppression, and resistance. Even his casual conversations with a girl he's interested in sound like political speeches. 

Venkitesh, who plays Jeevan's role, has a certain grace but not the body language of such a towering figure. The young actor is found wanting in several moments that have him doing larger-than-life antics. Sreenath Bhasi, who plays a rich spoilt brat, is more at ease in such scenes, but there's only so much he can do with an underwritten character that makes occasional appearances. Gautham Vasudev Menon is also wasted in a similar fleeting role. Despite having a plethora of characters, not many are well-etched enough to create a lasting impact.

LYV is intended as an eternal love story between a charismatic student leader and his junior collegemate, but the film fails to incite any sort of emotional bond with the characters. It again attributes to the problem of familiarity. Everything in the film, be its story, setting, characters, and conflicts, are already familiar to an average Malayali audience. Getting reminded of other films isn't the nostalgia we are talking about, are we?