LIK: Love Insurance Kompany Review

Pradeep Ranganathan is the most unlikely hero of Tamil cinema. His unkempt curly hair and beard and his unfitting attire set him apart. This non-hero persona works in his favour. It has become his identity, too. Moreover, whether his films are good or bad as a whole, his choice of stories is praiseworthy. He consistently brings something new to his movies and resonates strongly with Indian youth. He has scored a hat-trick of successes with Love Today, Dragon and Dude. Expectations are thus high on his latest, LIK: Love Insurance Kompany.

It's the year 2040, and Suryah (S J Suryah) is the owner of Love Insurance Kompany (LIK - yes, with a K). The company's product is LIK, a wearable finger ring that uses algorithms to find the perfect match for the wearer and to evaluate, control, and even maintain their relationship. In short, it promises successful relationships.

Vibe Vassy (Pradeep Ranganathan) is strongly averse to tech products and apps. He falls in love with Dheema (Krithi Shetty), who is constantly hooked to her mobile phone. However, when LIK determines that the couple is not compatible, Dheema breaks up with Vassy despite his repeated pleas not to. Later, he discovers that the LIK app doesn't just predict matches and love - it manipulates them.

As is his wont, with LIK, too, Ranganathan tries something different. The idea is fresh and much needed given the times we're living in. The movie asks whether love can really be reduced to numbers, and whether gadgets and apps can help us find true love. While this premise is interesting and deserves praise, the movie can't flex it enough to keep you engaged for 156 minutes.

Without spoiling the plot, the film can be divided into three phases: first, the clutter of apps and gadgets, and people's indulgence in them without experiencing or embracing reality; second, how everyone (50 million subscribers, as per the film) becomes an LIK subscriber, and the consequences of this; and third, the one-upmanship between Vassy and Suryah, and how Vassy exposes LIK, establishing that the app cannot silence true love with manipulated algorithms.

That's about it. Much could have been explored about real human connections in a world ruled by algorithms. Instead, the film reflects on modern situationships and tries to keep things engaging by adding quirkiness to all its characters. There are many instances in the movie where it tries hard to be funny but fails to land.

Among the performers, Suryah stands out as the quirky and unconventional CEO of Love Insurance Kompany. He brings both humour and insight to the story. His character has been flexed to the fullest. For starters, he has a robot girlfriend and robot father. He also has a peculiar getup (that you'll actually like) throughout the movie.

Pradeep Ranganathan, known for his high-energy performances, feels somewhat dull here. However, you still end up liking him for maintaining his non-hero persona. He shines in a few sequences. For instance, when Dheema gives her consent for love, his character's reaction is memorable. Even the way he responds to the mere utterance of her name is a standout moment.

Krithi Shetty is the visual treat. She looks stunning, is stylishly dressed, and performs well. Her character is modeled on the typical girl for whom social media validation is everything, and she pulls it off convincingly.

Yogi Babu is a disappointment in this film. His character revolves around the concept of "open friendship" (akin to an open relationship) to generate comedy, but it doesn't work. The jokes are unrelatable and poorly timed, and his performance feels rather lazy.

By now, we know that the makers could not fully substantiate the idea. Still, the movie passes as an average entertainer due to several aspects of its execution. The film uses VFX quite well to successfully builds its world set in 2040. Notably, VFX are present in almost every frame. As the narrative progresses, digital conversations, app notifications and gadget manifestations - especially those of LIK - pop up frequently. Seamlessly merging imagined gadget screens with real footage throughout the film requires significant effort; if done poorly, it would have been distracting.

At a few places it may still be irritating for non-Tamil viewers as some on-screen text appears in Tamil making it hard to follow. This also reminds you that the original film is in Tamil and that you are watching its Telugu dub. But the dubbing is in general so good that you barely notice.

Apart from the VFX, Anirudh Ravichander's background score and music are genuinely strong. You realize how important music is in romantic films. The song "Dheema", composed around Krithi Shetty's character, is particularly pleasing and may stay with you even after leaving the theatre. There is one minor auditory oddity, though: every character pronounces LIK as "like" instead of "lick". Still, this is a small, forgivable issue.

En fin, although LIK begins as an interesting futuristic rom-com and is technically polished, it becomes a case of #LoveScoreBroken (Vassy's campaign tag to expose LIK and Suryah) - it scores mediocre as a romance - due to surface-scratching the idea. Nevertheless, it remains moderately entertaining - though not quite on par with what we've already seen from Ranganathan.