Bachelor movie review: This romantic drama, starring GV Prakash and Divyabharathi, is engaging in parts

2.5/5

Story: A youngster with an orthodox mindset starts a live-in relationship with a bold girl. The former gets the shock of his life when he knows that his partner is pregnant. Quite concerned about his conservative family members, he forces his partner to abort pregnancy. However, she refuses to do the same and starts living separately. The girl's parents decide to take the legal route to deal with the issue. What will happen to the panicked youngster? 

Review: Sathish Selvakumar's Bachelor takes its own sweet time to establish its premise and lead characters. The story of a live-in couple is not new to Kollywood, but the director has tried to narrate it with different set of characters and conflicts in this film. Set in the backdrop of Bangalore, the story begins only after its lead characters get to know each other. 

But do they even understand each other despite having spent several days together? The long-drawn-out emotional drama with a few funny episodes has interesting moments. But is that enough to hold the attention of the viewers?

Darling (GV Prakash) is a Coimbatore-based IT employee, who works in Bangalore. Hailing from a conservative family, he lives along with his friends in the Garden City. As someone who is clueless about his needs and priorities, Darling has been leading quite a mundane life.  

His life witnesses a roller-coaster ride after Subbu's (Divyabharathi) entry. Though she is his colleague, Darling slowly gets to know her only after they get some time to spend with each other at her home. But little did they know that they would become physically close in a few days' time.      

One day, Darling, who goes to attend a family event at his native, gets overwhelmed when Subbu tells him that she is pregnant with his child. He rushes to be with her, but forces her to abort the twin babies. However, a determined Subbu decides to nurture the children.

With no option left, they part ways and Subbu's parents decide to take the legal route against Darling. Subbu's father, a criminal lawyer, comes up a slew of with fabricated evidences to trap him. Upon his friends' suggestions, Darling, on the other hand, is forced to prove that he is impotent. 

The plot, which has a partly engaging screenplay, entertains the viewers in a few sequences. The complex relationship between Darling and Subbu begin interestingly, thanks to their convincing chemistry, and the actors are apt in their roles. But as the story progresses, the director seems to have sidelined Subbu's issues.

A lot of time has been spent on highlighting Darling's family issues and the legal hassles he goes through. But we get only little on Subbu's state of mind and the trauma she goes through.

An interesting part of the screenplay is the manner in which the director portrayed the difference in the behaviour of a couple in a no strings attached relationship before and after they are about to become parents. A few sequences involving Bagavathi Perumal and Munishkanth bring the house down, thanks to some of the witty one-liners ad hilarious situations.

The entire stretch of sequences where the two actors and other friends of Darling go all out to prove his impotency to help him in the legal case is quite funny. There are a few other breezy and comic bits, too. But the problem is many of these scenes are over-stretched. 

Theni Eswar's cinematography and Siddhu Kumar's background score stand out. With a duration of close to three hours, the film tests our patience at times. The staging of few scenes remind you of some of the moments from Premam, Arjun Reddy and Ishq. The movie ends up as a long-drawn-out romantic drama with partly engaging moments.    

Verdict: Bachelor is a slow-paced emotional drama which touches upon the complexities faced by a couple in live-in relationship. Had the makers concentrated a little more on its screenplay and duration, it would have been an engaging film.