I Love You review: Rakul Preet Singh and Pavail Gulati's 'stalking drama' fails in paying ode to 90s' Shah Rukh Khan

1.5/5

Satya (Rakul Preet Singh) is a top executive at a major company, and she and her fiance, Vishal (Akshay Oberoi), have big hopes for the future. On the eve of her trip to Delhi, Satya becomes stranded in the office building. Which threats does she face?

When I heard the title of the film, I Love You, for the first time, it reminded me of the Dumb Charades game in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Remember when Anjali (Sana Saeed) gives "I Love You" as a clue to her dad Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan)? He refuses to believe there's a movie title like that. Well, finally there is, after 25 years, and in today's times, it fits the bill. It's not a love story, but a thriller wrapped like pigs in a blanket.

The film is just one hour and 35 minutes long because there's not much to offer, to be honest. The age-old stalking drama that set Shah Rukh's career back in the 90s is brought back with a high-tech twist. Yes, mentioning him here is important because the film is definitely an ode to him and has songs by the superstar playing in the background throughout.

I Love You starts with Satya (Rakul Preet Singh) getting engaged in her office with her colleague and beau, Vishal (Akshay Oberoi). It's set against the backdrop of Diwali, and the whole office is going on leave, including the newly engaged couple. However, superficially, a huge building has only one man working with the security system, and that's Rakesh, aka RO (Pavail Gulati). There comes the too-good-to-be-true downfall. In no time, we see even the security guard locking the office and leaving to have dinner without any backup.

Yes, there's no indication of what the company is about or what these employees are up to. However, we are in a make-believe world, too, in Mumbai, where a building ends up looking stranded after a point in time.

Satya is left alone in the building, which doesn't have any other souls, and she calls RO for help. Ah, yes, of course, he is the brainchild behind getting her trapped. All this happens in the first 20–25 minutes of the film, and the rest of the plot is just a survival thriller set in just one location. Even if the film is about 90 minutes long, it's just a drag where the lead characters run from one place to another while one is an attacker and the other is an escaper.

Although it's a film with a short runtime, there could be more time invested in learning about the backstories of the lead actors. Sometimes, the unnecessary drama is important to keep up with the story and not make it something we know where it's heading.

Now that Black Mirror is out, I Love You seems like a 144-p version of one of its episodes, where an app gives you an easier hand in stalking someone by making your wall and ceiling the live stream of your stalkee's home. Yeah, full-on creep alert, as it's meant to be. However, it just gets funnier and not scary like SRK made us feel with his menacing eyes and devilish grin.

Well, the comparison is definitely unfair, but given that the film is an ode to the superstar, the inspiration for the stalker is quite uninspiring and amateur. What makes it feel so is mainly that there's no backstory and a very caricaturish performance.

Rakul Preet Singh, as the one who is getting stalked, tries to shoulder the film at full stretch, but the uneven performance of going from stressful times to having a smirk and also singing with her stalker on Tu Mere Saamne from Darr just doesn't land properly. The film was shot in quick succession, with many things happening at once, including showing her underwater and also using weapons. But all this doesn't work where those are just elements that are resourceful in a limited way.

On the other hand, Pavail Gulati as the stalker RO gives those vibes instantly, and his actions are enough to show what he is up to. There's nothing to predict as the film is linear, but not his performance. Pavail does give off weak vibes as an actor, and yes, the script is to blame to some extent. What more can you show as a stalker if there's nothing more to offer other than just expressive love and axing people around?

Nikhil Mahajan, who has written and directed the film, has previously helmed movies in Marathi. The filmmaker just took the opportunity to shoot an intense film that is a tribute to stalker-based movies but totally uninspired.

Just like how "I Love You" has lost its meaning in so many ways in this era, the film is also lost in translation and totally underwhelming.