Soft Touch Entertainment’s Love Is Forever (UA) is a love triangle. Rohit Mehra (Ruslaan Mumtaz) gets married to Simran Chopra (Karnika Mandal). Strange things start happening to them while they are in Simla for their honeymoon. It soon emerges that Simran has a past. Her college-mate, Raj Varma (Rahul B. Kumar), loved her to the point of obsession and couldn’t dream of a life without her. Is it Raj troubling the newly-weds? How are matters resolved?
Rashid Kanpuri’s story is hackneyed and extremely predictable. The twist in the tale about Raj having died in an accident is such a weak one that the climax, in which the couple and Raj’s spirit interact, looks weird. Simran promising to marry Raj in another life seems so idiotic that the audience actually wonders what’s going on. Frankly, Simran giving the option to Raj looks like she is offering him a carrot for tomorrow, which no one has any control over, just to secure her present. The entire track of the Vedic marriage rituals is silly. Sonu Dandoriya and Raju Prasad’s screenplay is very poor. Why Simran doesn’t tell Rohit about her past is not clear. After all, there was no affair between her and Raj for her to be embarrassed. She could’ve easily confided in her husband and told him all about the completely one-sided affair. Rohit’s absence for a long time after interval looks weird. Even the suspense about Rohit’s step-mother looks forced and, therefore, the revelation in the end falls flat on its face. The Simla manager’s track is very weak. Rohit taking the blank phone calls and his close shave with a speeding car while he is on a morning walk lightly look stupid. One would’ve expected Rohit to take note of them far more seriously. Equally stupid is his decision to go to Simla despite overhearing his step-mother on the phone call, more so because he doesn’t trust her at all! All in all, the drama is so dull that nothing in it appeals to the viewers. Sonu Dandoriya and Raju Prasad’s dialogues are poor.
Ruslaan Mumtaz acts with all the sincerity at his command. Karnika Mandal looks too elderly to be paired opposite Ruslaan Mumtaz. In the role of Simran Chopra, she is below the mark. Her pronunciations and diction leave a lot to be desired. Rahul B. Kumar is an embarrassment to watch in the role of Raj Varma. His acting is terrible and his pronunciations are so pathetic that one wonders why his dialogues weren’t dubbed by a professional dubbing artiste. Pes instead of pesh, aasiq in place of aashiq, sabdon instead of shabdon, jaroor instead of zaroor, Visaal instead of Vishal, bardast in place of bardasht, saadi instead of shaadi… these are some of the glaring examples of faulty pronunciations by Rahul B. Kumar, Karnika Mandal and other actors. Mushtaq Khan and Gargi Patel play Simran’s parents but their performance would have one believe that they need permission to even open their mouths because they perpetually look unsure about what they are doing and saying. Javed Haider is irritating as Dhaniram, the couple’s house help in Simla. Garima Agarwal is barely average as Rohit’s step-mother, Maya Mehra. Zaid Khan is okay as Sam. Mohd. Saleem Mullanavar (as Rana, brother of Sam) looks and acts like a junior artiste. Vivek Anand is dull as Prakash Ahuja (Simla office manager). Pratibha Mishra lends average support as the Simla office manager’s wife, Geeta. Chandraprakash Thakur tries to be too cool as Raj’s father, Mahendra Verma, but it doesn’t suit him or the character. Shiv Kumar Mishra is dull as the pandit. Almost all the actors playing Simran and Raj’s classmates are terrible.
Salina Srinivas’ direction is terribly weak. Dev Chohan’s music is ordinary. One romantic song is okay. Sanjit Nirmal’s lyrics are so-so. Kausar Shaikh’s choreography is dull. Background music is a letdown. Rajshekhar Naidu’s camerawork is weak. Mukesh Rathod’s action and stunt scenes are unintentionally funny! Deepa K. Ambawadkar’s art direction is below the mark. Editing leaves plenty to be desired.
On the whole, Love Is Forever is a disaster of a film.
Released on 10-1-’25 at Movie Time Goregaon (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Iamplex Digital Theatrical Distribution. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor everywhere.