Like Aani Subscribe Review: An Unpredictable Thriller With An Intellectual Dark Message

RATING - ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5*

Like Aani Subscribe Review Movie Talkies:

I sat for Like Aani Subscribe screening with a blank slate, thinking that it might be a tale of overuse of social media. But holy shiit, what did I just witness? Okay, so I came out of the screening and met the director, Abhishek Merukar, who happens to be a fan of Sriram Raghavan cinema. Let me tell you, buddy, you have made a better film than Raghavan's last film (Merry Christmas). You might remember Raghavan's Ek Haseena Thi (coming from Double Jeopardy) or RGV's Kaun? (Coincidentally, Urmila is the leading lady in both films) or Karthik Subbaraj's Pizza (excluding that supernatural stuff), right? Abhishek's social media murder mystery thriller plays the same trick of the victim card to leave you stunned for a moment with a brilliant twist in the end. I hope it doesn't work as a spoiler.

Rohidas/Rohit (Amey Wagh) is a big-time scammer but far smarter for less educated villagers. After stealing Rs. 20 lacs from an insurance fraud, he comes to Mumbai and is looking for a job. We meet a struggling actress turned into a social media influencer, Khushi (Jui Bhagwat), who, during her live session, finds a bag at Juhu Beach. She finds the owner and turns the live session into a search operation. At last, she finds the house and is shocked to see the man lying dead. The dead man is no one else but Rohit. Khushi is interrogated by the police and is naturally the main suspect in the murder case, when everyone knows what actually happened in the live session. She is helped by Deepika (Amruta Khanvilkar), who works for an NGO and provides her with a private investigator to find the real killer. Will Juhi be able to get out of this?

Like Aani Subscribe starts as a regular drama, which costumes a lot of time. After setting the plot, it finally sees a shift at the intermission point, and then the second half is all about solving the murder mystery and unbelieving of many secrets. There are a few flaws too to this story, and that definitely reduces the final rating. One, as a part of genuine society, or as a good man, doesn't really expect to see the good losing at the end, no matter how smart your story is or how well you have adopted the idea. If someone remakes a classic like Double Indemnity into Body Heat, then you have to hate it. Similarly, you can't really digest the finale here. It's clever and sharp, I agree, but it's against morality. There is a dark taunt, a poignant one, to it, and that helps you come out of the negative light. When Deepika remembers the words said by the lady constable (casually), you realize that there is something wrong with our society and somehow we are part of it or causing the damage, unknowingly. That mic drop moment is my takeaway from this film, if nothing else, except the unpredictable turnaround in the last 15 minutes, which nobody saw was coming. There were a few guesses, of course, but not this one, until you have read the first paragraph of this review.

You might think that Like Aani Subscribe is Ameya and Amruta's film, but wait till you see it and agree to what I am going to say. This film belongs to Jui Bhagwat, truly! This will be a shocker to many, just like the film and her character. Being a newbie, she has done an exceptional job here. That breakdown scene of Instagram Live after her arrest was some top-notch stuff. Many experienced actresses fail to do that. Amey Wagh is seen in a new zone, and it's quite likeable. That gavathi accent is still fine, with some urban touch to it. Amruta Khanwilkar springs a nice surprise as she plays a sophisticated and mature character, far from her glamorous image. Believe me, she is more convincing here than in any other roles she has played till date. Shubhankar Tawde as Ravi was another surprise. Rajasi Bhave was fantastic as Shruti, Virat Madke as the inspector was good, and Pushkaraj Chirputkar's funny detective was so-so. Shivraj Waichal can be seen in a different look, while Gautami Patil makes a glamorous appearance in a useless item number that was added forcefully for the mass appeal in B centers. But do those people really understand such masterful thrillers? 

Like Aani Subscribe has decent support from the technical team. The sound design was okay, and the cinematography was pretty average. I expected a better framework for all those investigation scenes or the scenes that are unveiled later from a different point of view, or even that Jui's smile at the end or Amruta's guilty face (such a bad view to see it from one-sided view). Like Aani Subscribe lacks good music too, while the editing could've been better in the first half. By the time you reach the climax, you are slightly bored with the narrative because the structure was too simple to take that much time. The screenplay could have added a few more details instead of wasting time on an item song, or the back story of Rohidas (from village, I mean), or even Deepika's regular conversations with the police officer or newsrooms. You cut them all, and you cut 15 minutes as a whole, for better results. The narrative would have been much tighter then. Abhishek Merukar assumes too many things because he believes that the audience has become very smart today. Yet, a few details are missing, such as the police investigation and the realization part for both ladies. It could have been explored much better, and I wouldn't have to cut half a star from the final rating. Nonetheless, thanks to Abhishek for giving me a rare unpredictable thriller in Marathi cinema, which has been missing for some time now. Hype it if you can.