Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
First off, I’ll be nice and let you know something important: Director Balaji Mohan’s #Love ends with a ‘to be continued…’ cliffhanger. One that doesn’t end season 1 on a decisive note.
Written by Shweta Chakravarty, Sharada Subramanian and Nirmal Williams, #Love stars Aishwarya Lekshmi (Kumari, Gatta Kusthi) as Tara, the ambitious founder of dating app “Found,” who takes on an unusual 60-day challenge with Matthew (Arjun Das), an investor in rival app “Find My Bae.” Tara’s app trusts a strict AI compatibility algorithm to find users “the one,” while Find My Bae is basically Tinder, swipe away and see what happens. Their challenge is simple: let their respective apps find them a partner and see which one does it better. But this is a rom-com, so the real match might just be sitting across the table.
What’s refreshing about #Love is that it skips the usual ‘enemies-to-lovers’ routine and the leads don’t spend half the show bickering or fighting. Matthew is flirty and friendly from the moment he meets Tara, even though she does have a bitter ongoing feud with his company’s CEO, Chakri (R. Badree), a ruthless founder who resorts to underhanded and unethical tactics to beat her app. With Tara’s start-up struggling financially and desperately in need of new investors, Matthew agrees to become a silent investor if she wins their challenge. Chakri, however, is incensed when he finds out and ramps up his efforts to sabotage “Found.”
The primary personality clash between Tara and Matthew when it comes to romance is quite familiar, but Aishwarya Lekshmi and Arjun Das have the kind of chemistry that will make you smile at their interactions and root for them anyway. Matthew is an adrenaline junkie and millionaire playboy, hopping from one woman to another in search of that elusive ‘spark’ (quite like swiping constantly). Tara, meanwhile, has her walls firmly up, rarely gives anybody new a chance and prefers working round the clock, with her idea of adventure is getting coffee at the same café, while sitting in the same seat, every time.
#Love also dips into the personal lives of Tara’s co-founders, Sylvia (Harini Sundararajan) and Arun (Kiran), but their subplots are covered so fleetingly that they end up feeling more like boxes the film wanted to tick. Arun is queer and still in the closet, struggling with the prospect of coming out to his parents, while Sylvia is stuck in a dull marriage that has seemingly lost its spark. Both are potentially interesting stories, but neither gets enough time or depth to really make an impact. The writers would have been better off focusing properly on just one of them. Instead, they throw in another little age-gap romance between Matthew’s sister Mia (Namitha Krishnamoorthy) and a much older guy.
Anyway, #Love is most fun when the story focuses on its protagonists and how they navigate their personal and professional lives. One of the show’s biggest strengths is that it also gives both of them genuinely likable romantic alternatives. Tara matches with a dashing musician called Harish (Arjun Chidambaram), whose character is all about good vibes, while she sets Matthew up with NRI chef Mridhula (Gayatri Hariharan) through her app.
Gayatri Hariharan gets a slightly more significant role in the second half and makes Mridhula a worthy romantic rival. She’s talented, level-headed, mature and quickly becomes pals with Matthew and his best friends, basically she is bound to make most people think ‘damn she is a solid option!’. But well, the chemistry and sparks largely remain between Aishwarya Lekshmi & Arjun Das’ characters. Matthew is convinced that he and Tara could be more than friends/business rivals, but Tara would rather trust her AI algorithm to find them both a ‘more compatible’ #love.
Of course, the other major focus of #Love remains whether Tara can find investors for “Found,” and the show keeps sprinkling in glimpses of the hustle that comes with running a start-up when the funds begin to dry up. Negative reviews, employee poaching, dwindling funds and looming deadlines are stressful enough without also trying to figure out your love life. #Love playfully juggles all of this, helped along by a memorable soundtrack that keeps things engaging.
Given how breezy #Love is, and how lightly it touches upon its various ideas about romance, relationships and start-up life, I really wish the creators had simply called it a day in this season by adding two more episodes. Nothing here really demands a deeper dive. The ending unfortunately leaves room for more, when most of us would have happily taken a neat goodbye instead. But for now, watch #Love for Aishwarya Lekshmi and Arjun Das sparkling together against a fun backdrop of dating apps, start-up chaos and modern romance.
#Love is streaming on Netflix.
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