Love Hostel (2022) Review!!

Synopsis – Set against the pulsating backdrop of rustic North India, Love Hostel traces the volatile journey of a spirited young couple, being hunted by a ruthless mercenary.

My Take – Though the Hindi film industry has seen an infinite number of films about star crossed lovers going on the run to escape the wrath of their said prestigious families, filmmakers still seem interested in using the concept to present these kind of stories just with different parallels added to it. Like honor killings, which has been explored in myriad ways over the last few years in mainstream films.

However, what makes this sophomore effort from cinematographer-turned-director Shanker Raman, following the excellent neo-noir thriller Gurgaon (2016), unique is that it skips over the boy meets girl and fall in love section of the story and jumps right into cat and mouse chase the young couple are forced into.

Backed by a razor-sharp execution and an edge of seat narration, the film, which sees Shah Rukh Khan‘s Red Chillies Entertainment as one of its producers, scores heavily is in its treatment and offers arguably the bleakest, harshest look at what young adults have to go through in certain parts of India for something as basic as their constitutional right to marry whomever they wish to, all just to uphold a centuries old tradition.

It’s simple, if they don’t comply, there is hell to pay. While what goes down is familiar, but seldom have we seen a narrative so cold, dark, taut and compelling.

Achieving its act in the form of a 100 minutes nail-biting thriller, where everybody’s fair game, with several social and political subtexts, the film is a crafty reminder of India’s continuing religion problem.

Set in Haryana, the story follows a newlywed interfaith couple, Jyoti Dilawar (Sanya Malhotra) and Ahmed Shaukeen (Vikrant Massey), who after eloping, find themselves seeking shelter in a government-safe home, a facility provided to couples who might be harmed by their parents or communities after they approach the court for protection.

Expectedly all hell breaks loose as Jyoti’s grandmother, MLA Kamala Dilawar (Swaroopa Ghosh), happens to be a traditionalist and wants Jyoti back, so she can kill her herself. Adding more hurt to the fact is that Ahmed is the son of a Muslim meat-seller who has been branded a terrorist on a trumped-up charge and imprisoned.

Determined to keep her political status in the upswing, Kamala tasks the job of hunting the two down to Viraj Singh Dagar (Bobby Deol), a ruthless hit-man who sees himself as a vigilante working to correct the society and is very zealous about hunting couples who marry against their parent’s wishes.

And as Jyoti and Ahmed begin to flee for their lives with Dagar behind them in hot pursuit, the film ratchets up the tension, increases the body count, and lays out the jump scares in an amusing pattern.

The Zee5 released film immediately grabs your attention in the first 15 minutes. After that it rarely stops to breathe. This unrelenting flow of activity is fitting in the first half, though the second half is at times places lost to the cursory treatment given to a couple of seemingly significant supporting characters and episodes of violence, it never loses you.

While director Raman’s brilliant debut Gurgaon was a brooding deep dive into a dysfunctional family emblematic of their home city, this one zooms in and out of the family at its center, to give us a micro picture and a bird’s eye view of the socio-political reality that Jyoti and Ahmed are battling. Making us a viewer constantly worried for them.

Sure, the film is technically marred by a thin plot but, with the aid of its precisely calculated arcs, throws powerful, well-directed punches at a society that thrives on prejudice and militates against freedom. From brutality again inter-caste marriages to ill-treatment of Muslims, the film touches upon many relevant issues, without ever getting preachy or over dramatic.

Just with a lot of bloodshed, violence, gunshots and death. All leading to a climax, which after a lot of shoot outs and escapes eventually comes to a shocking end.

The only problem I had with the film was with the character of DCP Sushil Rathi (Raj Arjun), who despite seeming like an important aspect of the story in the beginning, is left abruptly dangling. One might even see the ending coming a mile away, which is the downside, but no doubt director Raman delivers it in the most compelling way.

Performance wise, Bobby Deol renders the emotionless Dagar to perfection and lets his chilling gaze and silences do the talking. Stealing the show with his chilling demeanor, that comes from a conviction that he is doing that needs to be done to cleanse the society, making his work all the more convincing.

Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey ably display the emotions of their characters especially when they’re been chased around. Malhotra portrays her character with spunk and spirit without going overboard, while Massey projects a version of masculinity that does not shy away from embracing his emotional vulnerability.

In supporting turns, Raj Arjun, Swaroopa Ghosh and Aditi Vasudeva are brilliant. Sadly, Gurgaon star Akshay Oberoi is wasted in a small role. On the whole, ‘Love Hostel’ is a gritty edge-of-the-seat thriller that offers an unflinching look at a certain section of India’s society.