Anamika Review: Pooja Kumar Embodies The Choice Between Love And Duty In This Part Of The Forbidden Love Anthology

Forbidden Love is ZEE5’s newest Original release, an anthology of four films. The second film in this anthology is titled after its protagonist Anamika, played by actor Pooja Kumar. The film also features Aditya Seal in a lead role and Harsh Chayya in a supporting role. Spanning over 40 minutes, Anamika is a gripping love story that crosses boundaries rather quickly. Read our review of the film here.

Watch the trailer of the film here:

The film is set in Pondicherry and captures its French beauty cinematically in a few shots. In its approach and emotion, Anamika is universal and wholesome. Anamika is a housewife, who has been married for eight years. Her married life consists of taking care of her ageing and deaf father-in-law, cooking for her husband, and taking care of the house. She also works at an artsy cafe, which is constantly bustling with tourists and youngsters. On one busy day, Anamika’s life takes an unexpected turn.

Aditya Seal plays the role of Ishaan, a young musician, who lives in his cousin’s house while completing his degree. Aditya captures the youth, ease, and charm that his character requires with ease. At every stage, Ishaan conveys more with his eyes than his words. Like the audiences, Anamika falls for him without realising it. A small incident brings them closer and their relationship escalates to a new height as Chura Liya Hai Tumne plays in the background on the piano. The scene with the music comes together brilliantly and establishes the next stage of their lives.

Soon in their newly undefined relationship, we start rooting for their happily ever after. While Ishaan’s charm works like magic, it is the truth expressed through Anamika that really keeps us gripped to our seats. On a bus ride back home, when Anamika smiles through the memories, the genuineness of her joy is nothing but endearing. When happiness finally approaches Anamika, she does not dream for more. And that is probably because she is more practical than in love. However, her counterpart is all about dreams and ambitions. For Ishaan, “main mana lunga” is the only approach to get through tough times.

Despite a few arguments and the unspoken burden of reality, the real conflict in the film is established much after the first half. The filmmaker does not make use of intense background scores or hyper motions to establish the tension of the scene. Each phase and transition occurs almost organically on the screen, and that alone deserves an applause. What will Anamika do when she has to choose between a dull and mundane married life and a promise of an exciting, if untethered, future? We see a glimpse of it at the beginning of the film and then it settles down like dust towards the climax.

What sweeps us off the floor is the big revelation in the end. The filmmaker leaves us shocked with the tiny yet compelling trail that he weaves all along. For years, we have heard how all good love stories do not have a happy ending. And Anamika is a meticulous challenge to this notion. Don’t miss it!

Watch Forbidden Love: Arranged Marriage, now streaming on ZEE5 as you wait for the next two films, Rules of Games and Diagnosis of Love, releasing on September 29, 2020.