Coffee With My Wife, directed by Vidyasagar, is not the usual kind of script to come out of Sandalwood and takes a hilarious look at a serious aspect of contemporary relationships.
Anish Tejashwar plays Charan, a software engineer who gets married to Sindhu (Sindhu Lokanath). The story takes off with the simple portrayal of the early days of their married life. Like two teenagers, discovering love, romance and sex, they cuddle, fondle and giggle. The many shared cups of coffee act as a metaphor for their growing closeness. This makes for the first half.
However, the honeymoon period does not stay for long as Charan soon begins to get irritated with Sindhu and with growing regularity starts to point out mistakes made by his wife including the way she makes coffee, something he never objected to before. On a particularly bad day, in a fit of rage, he slaps Sindhu for not preparing good coffee. She interprets it as an act of rejection and disaffection by Charan.
Sindhu walks out and goes to her parent's house. The couple, with their uncertain feelings for each other, separate for a while. The second half starts off with this extreme turn. Charan and Sindhu's families come to their children's aid and soon start controlling their lives. Aggravating matters, the news of the fight between the couple spreads like wild fire and even becomes 'breaking news' on local TV channels. The story of a marital rife makes for excellent voyueristic fodder for TRP ratings and the channels prey on every detail of the couple.
Will the couple be able to ignore the public gaze and rescue their relationship or will they benefit from content hungry channels? Answers to these questions are shown in this film that has been made with honesty. A realistic picture is created of how channels exploit a domestic situation for sake of on-screen drama.
Director Vidyasagar has not made any judgments and maintains a low-key approach to the story that results in a fascinating character study. Anish and Sindhu as the onscreen couple are captivating as the chemistry between them is palpable. However, the tension between the couple is not well handled. Tejas justifies the role of a software engineer while Sindhu comes out of her homely image with this film. A mixture of comedy and drama - when it's funny, it's terrific. However the movie may not pander to audience's tastes much because 'breaking news' TV has desensitised them to such unnecesary prying into other's lives.
The Verdict: A right film for newly-wed couples who can watch out for the romance and its after effects.
Film - Coffee With My Wife
Director - Vidyasagar
Cast - Anish Tejashwar, Sindhu Lokanath