CHENNAI: As an adult, all of the childhood punishments become instant life goals. Everything from eating healthy, to heading to bed early, becomes an activity we work hard to incorporate into our daily lives. In 'DeAr', GV Prakash’s Arjun is one such adult who safeguards his eight-hour sleep like a baby and he is a light sleeper who wakes up even when a pin drops. Aishwarya Rajesh’s Deepika is the exact opposite. They get married, move in together, and all hell breaks loose.
When it was revealed that DeAr is about how chronic snoring creates a rift between newlyweds, there were instant comparisons with Good Night, which was released last year. The difference here is that it is the wife who snores. Despite a brilliant premise in hand where multiple issues could be addressed, the film completely wastes this opportunity. Instead, we are given a film that lacks focus and holds onto too many emotions rather than exploring the central theme. While the ‘wife jokes’ are kept away for most of the film, towards the end, the makers needlessly place a song titled ‘Thalavali’. In another instance, Arjun points out that if it is okay for women to file a divorce based on a man’s baldness, he too can file a case because his wife has snoring issues. He then goes on to call them ‘fake feminists’. The meaning of feminism gets diluted in all of these conversations. Sadly, most of the jokes don’t land either.
The film tries to explain how it is important to compromise in a relationship. While it may sound like the perfect solution, we hardly see the duo taking steps to arrive there apart from a failed attempt at charting a sleeping schedule. Before they reach a compromise, Arjun rushes to file a divorce. Even when it is established that snoring is not a ‘problem’, Deepika apologises to Arjun repeatedly. Also, we never know who Deepika is apart from a few hints about her work. We know in detail about Arjun’s job as a journalist but Deepika’s side of her life is only present in patches. However, I was quite surprised by and loved Ilavarasu’s performance as a doting father to Deepika.
'DeAr' would have worked a cut above average if it had placed the spotlight on Deepika and Arjun instead of taking the rocky road to explore the others in the story. We get an arc on Saravanan (Kaali Venkat), how he is the patriarch in the family and how he treats his wife like a servant and another arc about Lakshmi (Rohini)’s role as a single mother and her yearning to reunite with her husband. By then, the snoring issue is long lost and forgotten, and the story refuses to move an inch after that, just like Deepika when Arjun tries to wake her up.
Film: DeAr
Director: Anand Ravichandran
Cast: GV Prakash, Aishwarya Rajesh, Kaali Venkat, Thalaivasal Vijay, Ilavarasu, Rohini, Nandhini
Rating: 2.5/5