The film keeps giving us “touches”. What it doesn’t give us is a sense of the “madness” in this love, which makes it very hard to feel for these lovers.
Spoilers ahead…
The romance begins on a bus. Sufi (Dev Mohan) makes way for Sujatha (Aditi Rao Hydari): as she enters, he rises and moves to the seat behind where he was sitting. She takes his place, and keeps turning back to catch a glimpse of him. He looks at her, too. Two young people, two good-looking people: it’s something like love at first sight. At some point, he gets down and she notices that he’s left behind his jade-coloured rosary. So it isn’t just the romance that begins on the bus, it’s also the hint of divinity that hovers like mist over the movie, named for the couple: Sufiyum Sujathayum. Indeed, the opening words (seen on a black screen, so we don’t miss the text) are: “Her love for him made her the Almighty”.
Read the rest of this article here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/malayalam-review/sufiyum-sujatayum-amazon-prime-video-review-aditi-rao-hydari-dev-mohan-a-classy-romance-thats-too-restrained-and-keeps-us-at-an-arms-length-baradwaj-rangan-jayasurya/
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Anu Warrier
July 7, 2020
that a love story isn’t quite a love story unless our hearts beat for the lovers as much as theirs beat for one another.
Lovely line! And it describes the feelings I couldn’t put words to when I commented on your review of Bajirao Mastani – about why that romance didn’t move me.
Haven’t watched this yet…
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Faroo
July 8, 2020
This movie is best seen as a (failed) fantasy. The location, villagers, dialogue, passage of time — all of it is so removed from reality. Full points for the attempt, but I found it to be torturous – a total marana kadi + blade padam.
The multiple times the azaan is shown, made it discomfiting – it ends up being overused, overlong and doesn’t pull us in like a conventional song would have. This then being the corner-piece for their love meant I couldn’t really get it.
But after a point, you want to get past the sad, soulful looks that Aditi Rao Hydari and Dev Mohan put across so well.
As you mention, all the touches eventually amount to nothing much – we don’t really see the deewangi/madness in the love – which then makes her treatment of her husband (and almost absent kid) cruel and unnatural.
This movie sits at the opposite end of the scale as Ennu Ninte Moideen in making us feel for the protagonists.
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krishikari
July 8, 2020
Ya, after seeing the trailer I thought this would be a very abstract sort of love story.
Aditi Rao Hydari seems to be getting typecast into these ethereal roles. I think the lack of ‘nativity’ complaints are valid only if you need a rooted character, like Parvathi in Poo or Maryam and the type of roles ARH gets are just fantasies.
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H. Prasanna
July 9, 2020
Congratulations on Film Companion turning 6: really set the industry standard in Indian film companionship. Looking forward to see it expand and grow!🙂 Great work @BR
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