We have grown up seeing and hearing love to be void of caste, color, creed, and religion. After years of revolutionary struggle, some wise people also managed to add the word ‘gender’.

Still, there are localities, especially in Asian countries, where a consensual relationship is a dream for many.

Love Hostel, a Zee5 original, embarks on the journey of an inter-religious couple trying to evade the eyes of a politician, a mercenary, and the thick-skinned bureaucracy. But does it succeed in its quest? Let’s find out.

Love Hostel Review Summary

Love Hostel is, predominantly, a film made to showcase the cruel reality of our times, where an inter-religious marriage cannot survive beyond the court of law. It is raw, quite blunt, and cannot be dismissed as a whole.

However, it seems a bit rushed up towards the end. I recommend Love Hostel as a one-time watch, especially considering its short run-time. But had there been 15 more minutes, Love Hostel would have become an epic film. Read on.

Now, buck up as we together move on to the detailed Love Hostel review.

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Love Hostel Synopsis

Directed by Shanker Raman, Love Hostel has love, crime, and politics at its core. The film stars Bobby Deol in a negative role, which is quite gruesome. Further, it has Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra as the lead pair.

The story revolves around Ahmed Shaukeen (Massey) and Jyoti Dilawar (Sanya Malhotra), a love-drenched couple flowing against the current political wind.

After Jyoti runs away from her marriage to be with Ahmed, her grandmother, a powerful politician, hires a ghastly mercenary in Viraj Singh Dagar (Bobby Deol) to get them killed. Will he get them, or will he not is what the plot is all about.

What works for Love Hostel?

The plot

It feels so fulfilling to put a movie’s plot in the list of positives, especially after Amazon’s lame Bestseller. The story is set in the orthodox and patriarchal town of Rohtak, where love marriages could in no way be accepted by families.

Considering the plight of those suffering from the evils of such a mindset, the government has built several safe homes across the city. But the twist in the tale is Viraj Dagar. He’s so savage that couples are not safe even inside the safe homes.

The movie’s plot manages to create links and join them at some point in the story to build a gripping narrative.

Performances

Well, it is filled with gritty performances. Vikrant Massey is at his regular best and effortlessly delivers what is asked of him. On the other hand, Sanya Malhotra perfects the accent and looks of a Jat girl who is both fiery and charming.

But the movie’s hook character has been given to Bobby Deol, and he doesn’t disappoint either. The handsome hunk plays the role of a criminal on a mission to clean the state by killing couples who marry against their parent’s wishes. Essentially, he gives effect to honor killings.

Bobby’s character is so violent and vicious that after a point, the bloodbath becomes hard to accept as something that can happen in real life. The man just walks inside a safe home and shoots over a dozen couples without blinking an eye.

Next, he somehow lands in a wedding procession and starts shooting everyone. I didn’t watch the trailer of Love Hostel, but if it promised a murder cavalcade, it indeed delivers. Every time there’s silence, you know something’s about to happen.

Social Message

Usually, social messages in Indian films are cliché. Emotional background music fills your ears with anticipation of something that you would rather laugh at. However, none of it is true with Love Hostel.

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It uses a subtle way of conveying several social messages throughout. More than the backwardness and failure of people in understanding love, I was amused by Jyoti’s younger brother.

That kid must be in his teens, and he was behaving like a monster already. Not many would notice his character and its relevance in the present times when there’s already so much hatred surrounding us.

I have seen children in Haryana growing up with hoards of attitude and a dismal thought process. But it is not their fault, for they are taught to be regressive since childhood.

Moreover, Love Hostel sneakily tries to present how minorities are traumatized in India’s current political setup. Though it’s not done overtly, the makers should be applauded for whatever is there.

I never knew intolerance and bigotry in a country could rise to such huge levels that a movie reviewer would applaud a general sub-plot of a fictional movie. Testing times, they say!

Rawness

Wow! Makers do not hold back from showcasing the real Haryana. How male police constables talk to females is not made hunky-dory just for the audience’s sake. Such conversations seem natural and not sugar-coated.

Also, Jyoti’s character is not a typical feminine plant. She is furious like fire and sharp as a knife. Abuses, accents, and the undisguised presentation in Love Hostel are laudable.

What doesn’t work for Love Hostel?

Short Duration

Rarely would you see this point in the negative list, but it has happened. In my opinion, love Hostel seems to have fallen short of 15 minutes. Makers could have given more space to the characters of Jyoti and Ahmed.

Moreover, the ending could have been better with a final showdown of some sort. But avoiding spoilers, I would end this point here only.

Lack of Emotions

Yes, Love Hostel does lack emotions at times. All the elements are there, from an ailing mother to a love story, but something’s amiss. Probably, it is to do with the duration. As I said, 15 more minutes spread across crucial stages in the film would have worked wonders.

Looking at things from another perspective, I feel there was an excessive bloodbath even when emotional dialogues would have done the trick.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Love Hostel?
Ans. Many people might be confused about what exactly Love Hostel is in the film. The movie portrays the government Safe Houses built for couples as Love Hostels.

Is Love Hostel a Real Story?
Ans. No, Love Hostel is not a real story. It is a fictional story written and directed by Shanker Raman.

Will there be Love Hostel 2?
Ans. Presently, there are talks of Love Hostel 2. It is highly improbable that there would be a second part of Love Hostel.

Search query: “Love Hostel Ending Explained”.

Ans. At the end of the movie, we see both Ashu and Jyoti are killed. They later meet each other in fairy place with snowfall. The scene shows that since they couldn’t live happily with each other while they were alive because of the shallow thinking of society, Ashu and Jyoti finally found peace after dying, probably in heaven.

Also, the director tries to convey that true love never dies. The two lovers went through a lot of pain and issues while alive, which is testimony to their commitment to each other.

In the end of Love Hostel, even Dagar dies of a road accident. The back of the vehicle had a love sign, which shows that karma leaves no one.

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