Movie: Love Hostel Love Hostel Cast: Bobby Deol, Sanya Malhotra, Vikrant Massey, Raj Arjun Love Hostel Director: Shanker Raman Where to Watch: ZEE5 Review by: Russel D'Silva Bollywood is no stranger to love stories, where the lead pair faces stiff opposition from family members of either one or both sides due to differences in caste, community, religion, or status. Several popular Hindi films like Bobby, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Ishaqzaade, Dhadak immediately springing to mind. Some of these films have had happy endings while other have concluded in tragedy. On that note, the concept of Love Hostel, starring Bobby Deol, Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey, and directed by Shanker Raman, is nothing new, but where it scores heavily is in its treatment, characterisation and 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 whom they wish to. So, are you excited about what to watch this weekend or what to watch this week and wondering whether Love Hostel is worth your time? Scroll down for my full Love Hostel movie review...
What's it about
Jyoti (Sanya Malhotra) absconds from her home, where she's about to be married off to somebody else, to elope with Ashu (Vikrant Massey), who belongs to another religion. The court validates their marriage and grants them temporary stay in a safe house, but that means nothing when Jyoti's politically influential grandmother sets ruthless assassin Dagar (Bobby Deol) loose on them.
Watch the Love Hostel trailer below:
What's hot
Bobby Deol is at the front and centre of Love Hostel despite the villain, drawling parallels with other iconic Bollywood villains like Gabbar, Mogambo, Shakaal, Lala, Don, Rahul from Darr and so on. His mere presence chews up every frame, his Haryanvi accent couldn't be more authentic even by an actual Haryanvi, and it's a masterclass in how an actor express everything through cold stares and menacing expressions. Sanya Malhotra proves a brilliant foil, her desperation and nervous energy never concealing Jyoti's fortitude and resolve while Raj Arjun and the rest of the supporting cast are also on point. Director Shanker Raman has come a long way since the good intent but seesaw execution of his last film, Gurgaon, with Love Hostel playing as an edge-of-the-seat thriller, where everybody's fair game and you need to steel your own nerves for the cold and dark narrative. The camerawork and background score also give the proceedings an aptly dreary feel while the editing never once lets up the tension or allows your attention to waver.
What's not
As bleak as Love Hostel needed to be, the denouement is still an issue as in the quest of realism, Director Shanker Raman and his co-writers end up painting too hopeless a perspective that almost makes their protagonists' struggle and the time you invest in it worthless. Plus, Raj Arjun's character track is left abruptly dangling while Bobby Deol's Dagar reaches a conclusion that's a tad incredulous to digest, with, the very realism Shanker Raman was going for, inexplicably going for a toss in this moment. Finally, Vikrant Massey looks miscast it's not that he's serviceable, it's just that he comes up short before the rest of the cast, especially in scenes that demanded a lot more.
BL Verdict
If you wish to know the difference between a prejudiced term like "Love Jihad" and the freedom for adults to choose whomever they wish to marry sans any fear whatsoever, then Love Hostel should be mandatory viewing. That it achieves this balancing act in the form of a nail-biting thriller, with several subtle and broad social and political subtexts, and very few flaws, merits it even further praise. I'm going with 3 out of 5 stars.
Rating : 4 out of 5 
