If you’re done with watching conventional romantic movies — from the passionate and sentimental to the toxic and violent — here’s a love story that you can watch with your partner that will offer you an expectedly fresh, modern and original take on romantic relationships. Directed by Bejoy Nambiar (who is known for telling tales that are tough, gritty and oftentimes dark in design and execution), Tu Yaa Main is a survival thriller and love story rolled into one. Blending familiar themes and devices of both genres, it delivers a story that is intense, edgy and exciting.

The story unfolds the unlikely romance between influencers Avni (Shanaya Kapoor) and Maruti (Adarsh Gourav), who are starkly contrasting characters representing extreme opposites of Mumbai’s social strata — she belonging to the elitist and wealthy classes and he to the vibrant, teeming working classes of the city’s suburbs. Their chance meeting and initial spark of romance, which is in tune with the poor-boy-meets-rich-girl trope in traditional romantic narratives, sets the stage for some of the most beautiful and visually pleasing scenes of this film, which is otherwise a tense survival story full of violent, suspenseful and anxiety-inducing moments.

With two-and-a-half hours of running time, the build-up to the crisis in the film is kept deliberately long and protracted. A latent tension is created and sustained at a consistent pace from the very beginning of the narrative. It starts off on an ominous note, depicting a ghastly crocodile attack in the peaceful and scenic Konkan backwaters, catching audiences off guard even before they have settled down in their seats, and preparing them for the central crisis of Tu Yaa Main.

The story of Avni and Maruti is also replete with imagery related to drowning and death, creating the sense of an impending catastrophe. The audience is informed that Avni is a skilled swimmer but that Maruti doesn’t know how to swim, details that become vital to the realistic development of the story. Nevertheless, the scary situation in which the pair finds themselves in seems a tad too unrealistic in spite of everything, the chain of circumstances that lead them to being trapped with a pair of murderous, giant crocodiles for company, being both improbable and avoidable.

On the positive side, the chemistry between the lead pair definitely feels fresh, dynamic and exciting. Both actors deliver confident performances in roles that seem tailor-made for them — Adarsh Gourav as the spunky, self-assured and ambitious rapper/influencer from the working classes is a joy to watch, as is his gradual transformation from a conflicted lover to a responsible partner. Shanaya Kapoor impresses as the rich kid with a sad secret who finds true love in a poor yet talented young man.

What is most noteworthy about their roles is that both characters are equal heroes in this film, their flaws and their strengths in identical measure lifting up this genre-bending tale from its literally terrifying depths. Among the supporting cast, Ansh Vikas Chopra is one of the brightest spots of the film, playing Maruti’s friend Fabric, the loyal, funny and lovable friend.

The story of love and fierce loyalty of social unequals Avni and Maruti offers an opportunity for the storyteller to examine universal truths about happiness and show its complete disconnect from wealth or success, while the song Muskurati chandni that plays in the midst of their predicament, sums up the mood, intent and philosophy of the film. In Tu Yaa Main, the cinematography (by Remy Dalai) beautifully captures the monsoons in Mumbai and Goa, while the music mostly pays homage to old Bollywood love songs related to the rains.

What stands out is the film’s subtle message in raising awareness and concern about the human-animal conflict arising out of the former’s encroachment of the latter’s habitats, which, if not for the film’s heavy dependence on scenes of bloodshed that induce excessive fear and trauma, would have made for an experience at the theatre worth remembering for both its story and performances.

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