Express Views

The moment we commodified weddings and started calling it the marriage "market," many brides and grooms became products that came with a selling price, a buying price, and unfortunately, an expiry date too.

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They are depreciating assets, and it is one such asset that is the protagonist in director Shanmuga Priyan's debut film, Love Marriage, a rather faithful remake of Vishwak Sen's Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam.

Ramachandran (Vikram Prabhu) is in his early thirties and is already considered to be past his sell-by date. He is part of a misogynistic and casteist family, which has relaxed its rules since they haven't found the right suitor within their caste and class. That is the scheme of things in many a family in the arranged marriage setup. And after multiple rejections due to his age, greying hair, rumors of balding, and his profession, Ramachandran's family decides to travel far away from home and get engaged to Ambika (Sushmitha Bhat), who is from a different caste.