Loveyapa: When romance meets finance—Money lessons you won’t expect from this cringe flick | Mint

You and I and everyone else is chronically online. Kittens and puppy videos are so basic, we share cringe content with our besties. So when Bollywood realises that the cop uniform on every actor is no longer working for anyone, they run Southwards.

This time to Tamil cinema to borrow a love story called Love Today, adding that funjabi pizzaz and flash. But it doesn’t slap. The only thing that works is Ashutosh Rana playing the girl’s dad who deserves a H/T. His eyes are all knowing, his smile tells us he’s a step ahead of the lovebirds. Does his simple ploy work? Or do the young lovebirds pass the test?

Gone are the days of Maine Pyar Kiya where daddy-o makes lad work to prove he’s good enough for his rani bitiya. All Sachdeva sar has to do is tell the two kids to exchange phones. It’s a matter of trusting your love interest who’s going to carry you across the threshold. What money lessons does this really lame rom-com have to teach us?

Erase browser history! Keep your finsta private

The moment dad asks the two lovebirds to exchange phones, the rizz quotient between the two snookums just falls down. Each pretends to trust the other, but desperately hopes that they will not discover browsing history. Alas, dad will not give them a chance to do that and eventually both discover each other’s dirty secrets. From talking all night to checking out messages from the boys she is supposed to have ‘friendzoned’ the relationship seems to be in tatters. And what does one do about the girls who keep calling because…

The two young lovers believe whatever they read on the phone. Not too different from those among us who panic whenever they see strange information about a bank or your credit card services. People who believe everything they read or see on social media are fated to suffer. Elections everywhere are won because of the support some politicians receive from particular social media.

There are studies which show how the stocks of companies where CEOs who do not take sides are faring better than when the CEOs openly support a candidate. People lose their life savings because they bought into ‘crypto coins’ created by some politician they blindly follow.

Do you trust your friendzoned ex or do you trust your own feelings?

Trust is a big thing. And fragile. The two young lovers learn that lesson the hard way. Each is horrified that the one who thinks the world of them is on a dating app, is having intimate conversations with exes who claim to be sad and depressed.

On the other hand, there is a man who will not let anyone touch his phone who turns out to be doing it for the right reasons: on social media people who are not perfect get body shamed or content shamed by anyone who thinks it’s okay to lol at ‘imperfect’ people, or anyone who gets branded as a ‘drip’ or even a ‘beige flag’. Who should they trust? It was cathartic to see that it is his mom who helps him understand his feelings and helps reunite the couple after a crisis.

But when it comes to your money, trust only your own instincts and the financial planner who offers sane advice on investments. Of course instincts are not the only thing you have to depend on. You should read up on where and how your money is being invested. Your financial planner will take you through the ups and down of the stock market, and just like the young lad’s mom offer you the right advice when you worry about rumours you read on social media.

The chemistry between the two young and presentable people is practically non-existent. At the theatre it doesn’t feel like a First Day First Show audience (remember how just the poster of Hrithik Roshan’s debut film pulled crowds?) that is scrolling during the movie. And if you are like me, you’d have seen the same film in Tamil that’s on Netflix right now and feel nothing when you watch this film. In fact, the film can be described in a word a GenZer fire from ‘saddi Dalli’ uses quite often: chawal.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.