Love Today (2022) is a romance comedy Tamil movie directed by Pradeep Ranganathan of Comali fame. The movie director Pradeep makes his acting debut with this movie along with Ivana, Sathyaraj, Yogi Babu, Radhika Sarathkumar, Raveena, Finally Bharath, Adithya Kathir, and Aajeedh Khalique. The movie was produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram, Kalpathi S. Ganesh, Kalpathi S. Suresh under the banner AGS Entertainment.
Uthaman Pradeep (Pradeep Ranganathan) and Niki's (Ivana) romance takes an unexpected turn when the girl's father (Sathyaraj) challenges them to exchange their phones for the day. It is only if they still want to be together afterwards that he will allow them to get married.
Love Today is one such story of two imperfect youngsters—Uthaman Pradeep and Nikhitha—who live in a make-believe world assuming themselves to be 'the perfect couple'. They call each other all the sweet names in the world.
While one person's ringtone goes 'Kadhal Neethaana', the other person's phone rings, 'Unmai Kadhal Yaar Endraal'. It’s that phase where everything is beautiful and romantic. The two assume they know everything about each other, and it is conveyed in the film's very first dialogue when the guy says, 'Enakku unna pathi ellam theriyum baby' as he swoons over her. The girl repeats this a lot too. But all this is until they discover the truth.
After making his debut with a rather quirky Comali, filmmaker Pradeep Ranganathan comes up with another unconventional idea for his sophomore film — a couple exchanging their phones for a day and learning dark secrets about each other. This film is an extension of his short film, Appa Lock, which too starred him.
The first look and trailer of Love Today made a lot of noise with many worried if it might be a celebration of misogyny or glorification of toxic relationships. However, Pradeep proves them all wrong by focussing on something… sincere. The film simply attempts to showcase the flimsiness of contemporary relationships.
Pradeep, the actor, reminds us a lot of Dhanush from his early days, or even SJ Suryah for that matter. Apart from his build and the guy-next-door persona, he has a certain zeal that's apt for this film. He finds a perfect foil in Ivana, who is equally chirpy and shows much potential during the emotionally heavy scenes.
Though the focus is mostly on Pradeep and Nikhitha, there's also another couple, Divya (Raveena) and Yogi (Yogi Babu), at the thick of things. These two couples drive home the film's two important points — the importance of trust and personal space in relationships. Just like in Comali, here too, Yogi Babu gets a heartwarming character arc.