Halal Love Story premiered on 15th October 2020 on Amazon Prime Video. The Malayalam comedy-drama film is directed by Zakariya Mohammed with a screenplay by Zakariya and Muhsin Parari with Ashif Kakkodi as the co-writer and stars Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Sharaf U Dheen, Grace Antony, Soubin Shahir, and Parvathy Thiruvothu.
Artistic Approach and Religious and Social Restrictions
Halal Love Story sets itself in a non-progressive Islamic organization that holds its laws and beliefs uptight and plans to make a movie with ‘halal’ (permissible and lawful), and without haram (forbidden and adultery-driven). The cultural wing of the organization that organizes various short plays and Nukkad Natak decides to step into the world of movie-making and refrain from using any “sexual actions” (hugging being considered one of them) and making a film that fits into the constraints of their religious and social beliefs.
They reach out to a telefilm maker, Siraj (Joju George), who has to abide by the boundaries as told by Taufeeq (Sharaf U Dheen) in his script that he presents for the movie. What continues is shooting shenanigans, acting classes, the human dilemma, and cultural boundations. The film goes on to feature a real-life couple, Shareef (Indrajith), a deeply religious man, and his wife Suhara (Grace Antony) so that no unlawful action takes place on-screen. What follows is a roller coaster ride of emotions.
Halal Love Story is a light-hearted film that sometimes misses out on the emotion-depth value in its writing. The film grows slowly into its premise which might feel a little lagging and tiresome but as the plot progresses, it becomes engaging overall. The personal issue and dilemma in the film of both the director and the lead pair work out flawlessly in the script. The storyline does not crash and burn but rather, both the stories grow separately yet together.
The film is not a comedy and neither does it aim to go in that direction as there are various ideas co-existing in the script in a subtle way. The film is a commentary on the regressive religious belief system but does not flourish completely in the whole spectrum of targeting the regressiveness of societies bounded by religions. In terms of cinematography, the film sets itself in humble surroundings and is majorly shot in the same location. There is no grandeur or extravagant action or settings but is rather minimalistic and surrounded by nature, consisting of small-town lives.
Stream It or Skip It
STREAM IT! Halal Love Story is a light-hearted family movie with no haram whatsoever! The film is not big in its conflict and also does not offer big conflicting ideas but finds itself in small detail and delightful moments of mankind and its life. There is simplicity and honesty in the characters which makes this film sweet. Despite this though, the film has no strong message that you’ll take away from it by the end.
Halal Love Story is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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