GV Prakash Kumar and Aishwarya Rajesh in a still from ‘Deyar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements

The most tangible memory of 2019 Setham Ayaram Pawan A fast-paced, emotional drama about an urban woman’s journey to reconnect with her roots. Even if you could see most of his setup from afar, the payoffs, measured storytelling, and writing of emotional beats spoke of a gifted filmmaker who meant serious business. Now, kind of shit DAR Turns out, you’ll be forced to double-check if it’s the same director Anand Ravichandran, who made his debut with this 2019 film.

Everything about this GV Prakash, Aishwarya Rajesh starrer feels rushed, as if it was written chasing a tight deadline, or perhaps to save Prakash from the underwhelming performance of his recent release. It is written for DAR An acronym for Deepika and Arjun, the names of the leads’ characters. Here’s what you’re told and expected about these characters: Arjun is a light sleeper who needs his eight hours of sleep to function well as a television journalist. Deepika is a “sound sleeper” whose lack of sleep is scaring away potential marriage matches. Now to see what Deepika does? Arjun’s brother Saravanan (Kali Venkat) is hinted at working in the HR department at the company, but his career and how the events of the film will affect him is ignored.

GV Prakash Kumar and Aishwarya Rajesh in a still from ‘Deyar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements

Deepika hides her sleeping sickness from Arjun, and the two get married on a beautiful, rainy day. It is only during their wedding night that Arjuna realizes that a good night’s sleep is a blessing he may have to fight hard for in this marriage. the rest of DAR Follows the couple, and their families, as they avoid getting out of this marriage. Looks like a gender-reversed version of last year. Good night? When you want to see DAR Bereft of any comparison, the film, unfortunately, doesn’t help itself in this regard as Vinayak Chandrasekaran’s 2023 fails miserably at everything.

First and foremost, the conflict is hardly sustained. The loud melancholic score desperately tries to fill in the blanks and the characters exchange I love yous several times, and yet, you have nothing on paper to care about these characters. And although introduced as a basis for controversy, the problem or solution to snoring is rarely explored.

Unlike the case in Good nightwho took a sympathetic look at both points of view, DAR Arjun defies him and describes his partner’s lack of sleep as something that doesn’t deserve to be considered a problem. And since Arjun and Deepika are written to support this understanding, you shouldn’t be surprised if they’re as shaky as a man who might change his ways after reading an encouraging forward on WhatsApp. Is. At one point, Deepika says that she hoped Arjun would stop snoring like how he had left a trivial mistake during their first meeting. Who are these people who say such things?

What really makes DAR A troubling issue is the apparent rush in the screenplay. Watch the chain of events that lead to the couple’s falling out. Early on, Arjun tells Deepika about his aspirations to get a job at ABS News and interview the Finance Minister of India. You’d expect it to be played out dramatically to reach an emotional climax, but soon after all this, Arjun gets a job and secures an interview with the minister, all of which predictably leaves him sleep-deprived. , and he cries. None of this registers and you’re left wondering if there’s anything else impressive in store that the film is desperate to tell you about. Sadly, this is not the case.

Anand also does not shy away from creating organic drama between the characters. For the first time, Arjun’s family – for whom we are told about their important roles in Arjun’s life – speaks to him about his decision to divorce Deepika in the court premises after the first hearing. . What were they doing during this time?

GV Prakash Kumar and Aishwarya Rajesh in a still from ‘Deyar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements

In the time he spends running us through this broken relationship, Anand tries to create contrasting arcs for Saravanan, a psychotherapist who treats his wife, Kalpana (Nandini), like a slave. . and his mother (Rohini), who yearns for her long-estranged husband to return. The strange thing is that of all the moral lessons we are painstakingly taught by these arcs, you wish you could have seen more equality between Deepika and her father (Alavarasu).

On top of all that, you’re also asked to endure perceived attempts at comedy, cliche soup-song-in-a-bar, random jabs at feminism, and mind-bending audio technique — Parts of the film are dubbed and some recorded with sync sound, and it’s jarring to watch a film with heavily orchestrated scores playing over live recorded dialogue. If not for the lack of sleep, the film might have found a solution for sleep-deprived audiences: loud, rambling sound.

DeAr is currently playing in theaters.