Not A Love Story Movie Review

Anusha Chawla (Mahie Gill), leaves hometown Chandigarh and boyfriend Robin (Deepak Dobriyal) and comes to Mumbai, chasing her dreams to become an actress. She gets a break with the help of a casting agent, Ashish and brings him home one night. 

But the night turns out to be a nightmare, as Robin lands up in Mumbai and kills Ashish in a fit of fury and jealousy. A gruesome tale, the story begins with Anusha (mahie) who wants to become an actress. She comes to Mumbai after convincing her obsessive boyfriend Robin (deepak) and starts looking for a break. She finally gets one with the help of one Ashish (ajay gehi). 

Anusha is on cloud nine and so is Robin. While she goes to celebrate with Ashish and friends, Robin decides to surprise her the next morning. However, after the party, Ashish gets drunk and stays at Anusha's place. In this process, both get close. 

The next morning Robin arrives and understanding what happened, he kills Ashish in blind anger. What happens after that forms the rest of the story. Based on the headline-grabbing case of Kannada actor Maria Susairaj, her boyfriend Jerome Matthew and the murdered television executive Neeraj Grover, Not A Love Story is a startling film. 

Startling, because it captures the nasty, brutal side of seemingly normal and nice people who sometimes, see nothing amiss in the most heinous of crimes. The casualness with which Anusha and Robin try to cover the tracks of their crime, dispose off the body of the victim, make love even while he lies dead and bloodied in the next room fills you with chill and dread. 

The director has come up with a thought provoking storyline and while the presentation was classy, the narrative was gripping. The dialogues were reasonable, the script was alright while the screenplay was tight. Background score was great and two songs were upto the mark. Cinematography was the major highlight. Editing was crisp. 

Costumes were natural while the art department was suiting the moods. Deepak Dobriyal comes up with the right kind of act and fits his role aptly. Mahie Gill was the show stealer, she oozes great sex appeal and has given a gripping performance. Ajay Gehi was brief but good. 

Zakir Hussain was fabulous, he needs to get more chances. Darshan Jariwala was decent. Neil Bhoopalam was natural, Prabhjot Sandhu was moderate. The others did their bit as required. The film is basically an inspiration from the Neeraj Grover murder case but then the makers have not delved much into that subject. While the first half goes off in a mild manner, the heat builds before the interval. The second half is quite gripping and it comes up with good intensity. 

The film shines due to its exceptional technical values and narrative. However, the subject is very dangerous and it could affect weak minds. At the box office, the film has strong chances of commercial success given the cost of its making.