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The Malayalam film, Love written and directed by Khalid Rahman made during the COVID-19 lockdown period has been made in Kannada as Happily Married. It was directly released on OTT platforms on September 28.
Happily Married, the Kannada version is directed by Arunkumar M and Sabu Aloysius. It stars Pruthvi Ambaar and Manvita Kamath portraying Anoop and Deepthi, originally played by Rajisha Vijayan and Shine Tom Chacko in Love.
The only question remains as to whether Happily Married, the remake of Love is as good as the original or is another futile attempt to recreate the ‘magic of love’.
Happily Married synopsis
Happily Married is a clean copy-paste of Love that is four minutes shorter, running at approximately one-and-a-half hours in duration.
The thriller which mostly unfolds within four walls of an apartment opens to Deepthi (Manvita Kamath) being examined by the gynecologist, who shares her the good news that she is pregnant.
And the good news ends with it as the scene cuts to Anoop (Pruthvi Ambaar) having his drinks at his apartment when he gets a message on his smartphone about the pregnancy news. Well, it's not his wife's message but from another lady!
So, once a happy married life is now on the rocks and the psychological thriller delves on toxic marriage and how the twisted minds end up with a consequence is what Happily Married is all about.
Happily Married Analysis and performances
Love was quite impressive for the fact that it was made during the lockdown period. However, the making, writing and the performances, especially that of the two protagonists made all the big difference.
Whereas the Kannada version hits the screens in a different scenario and circumstances.
Remaking a successful work of art is always a challenging endeavor, as attempting to create an exact replica or even a close approximation often results in a decline in quality. Same is the case with Happily Married.
The finer details, such as the portrayal of a happy marriage through photographs of the couple displayed on the walls, a character remarking that every married man thinks about killing his wife at least once, and the introduction of key characters, all stay faithful to the original.
Pruthvi Ambaar and Manvita Kamath deliver commendable performances as Anoop and Deepthi, respectively. However, their portrayals appear to be heavily influenced by, and at times imitative of, the original characters.
Happily Married Final Take
If one has already seen Love in Malayalam, Happily Married may feel like a complete waste of time. However, if you have not, the Kannada version of the thriller makes for a decent one-time watch, particularly with its runtime of just under 90 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4-4_aDWBmw