LOVE SONIA REVIEW: Shock value can’t be the only purpose of a film.

Inspired by real life events, Love Sonia is the story of a young girl’s journey to rescue her sister from the dangerous world of international sex trafficking. That’s the story. We’ve seen many films on sex trafficking, such as “Mardaani” and “Lakshmi”. Both of them touched us in different ways. While “Mardaani” was more commercial and mainstream in its appeal, “Lakshmi” is a much lesser known film with a greater impact. Now with “Love Sonia” we have another film that tries to tackle the issue. But at some level this film just shows us something we have seen, albeit in a different way, but today we expect more than just a display. We expect a few answers that go beyond the usual.

To see a dark part of society is fine, but to be told a story with a hint of hope or some answers that dig deeper into this deranged aspect of society is what we expect when we have already seen this side numerous times in previous films. This film is jut ok, but “ok” is not enough for such a theme that we have seen a few times already. This is a disturbing film where the story is told through the eyes teenage girl, on a journey to find her teenage sister. Her search drags her to Mumbai’s dark underbelly and entraps her in the horrific world of sex trade and prostitution. Then one thing goes wrong after another.

At some level, the film gets extremely overwhelming. The director doesn’t spare you with all the shocking details. You eventually feel suffocated by the gruesome, gritty and eerie atmosphere that the director puts forth. Yes, dark cinema is a type of cinema, and indeed cinema is also meant to provoke and disturb, but ultimately you start questioning to point. Yes, show us the mirror, but also show us more. The problem is that there is no emotional connection. The characters are not properly fleshed out. We don’t see a proper bond between the sisters. Everyone is either black or white. Nobody is just a human. A films sole purpose cannot be to just shock. There needs to be a proper narrative as well. There needs to be something that we can take back with us.

There are a couple subplots, with one standing taller than the rest. The plot with Frieda Pintoo is the best. Frieda Pinto has done well. All the other actors, Manoj Bajpai, Richa Chadda, Anupam Kher, and Adil Hussain fit their roles perfectly. Rajkumar Rao makes a mark in his short appearance. But the most impressive is the debutant, Mrunal Thakur. While her character and plot seems redundant, she is the most impressive. Her body language and expressions do all the talking. The technicalities from the cinematography, to the editing, to the sound design, all go together fluidly to create the right ambience and feel. Unfortunately, however, the screenplay and the overall plot lacks meat.

Overall, this films only goal seems to be to make its viewers uncomfortable. Perhaps it succeeds in this regard, but that is not enough.

Rating: 2.5 stars.