The trailer of ‘#Love’, a web series centred on modern love and relationships, directed by Balaji Mohan with Soundarya Rajinikanth serving as showrunner and producer, was unveiled.
Starring Arjun Das and Aishwarya Lekshmi in the lead roles, the series explores how love, dating, relationships and emotions have evolved in today’s digital world, blending humour with emotional depth.
The trailer launch event of ‘#Love’ was held in Chennai, where members of the cast and crew, along with celebrities from the film industry, attended the event and shared their thoughts about the series.
At the event,
Monika Srivastava from Netflix said:
“‘#Love’ is Netflix’s first Tamil romantic drama series. Netflix has been placing increasing focus on stories from South India. In particular, we want to bring different storylines, distinctive voices and fresh approaches through Tamil content. In that way, ‘#Love’ presents a love story from a modern and playful perspective.
‘#Love’ features two rival dating-app founders. One believes that love is based on compatibility, while the other believes that chemistry is what matters. As the two compete to prove that their respective perspectives are right, love ends up changing their plans. Beyond whether or not we have used dating apps, the series explores how love itself can sometimes change the way we think about relationships.
Director Balaji Mohan has the ability to portray the realities of everyday relationships through his own unique and humorous perspective.
Showrunner and producer Soundarya Rajinikanth has created the world of ‘#Love’ with a clear vision right from the beginning. My thanks to writer Nirmal Williams, co-writers Sharada Subramanian and Swetha Chakravarthy, composer Sean Roldan, editors Sai Muthuraman and Siva, and everyone else involved in the project.
The chemistry between Arjun Das and Aishwarya Lekshmi, who play Matthew and Tara respectively, is one of the major strengths of the series. Netflix’s aim is to offer audiences a different world and emotion every time, and in that sense, ‘#Love’ will reflect the love and relationships of contemporary young people. Thank you to everyone.”
Showrunner and producer Soundarya Rajinikanth said:
“Today is a very special day for all of us. I would like to thank Netflix for trusting me and bringing this story to me, especially Monika. My experience with her during the reading session for ‘#Love’ in Mumbai was very special. The encouragement she gave me to become a better producer and storyteller is something I will never forget.
I am not easily impressed by many things because I am the daughter of the Superstar. When you live with someone who is admired by everyone, you tend to become less easily impressed by others. But Monika truly impressed me. She is an exceptional leader and a great source of inspiration. I thank her for giving me the opportunity to work as a producer and showrunner for Netflix. I would also like to thank Abhishek and Sudhanshu, who travelled with me throughout every stage of this journey.
Being the showrunner and producer of a Netflix Original series is a huge responsibility for me. The line from Spider-Man, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’ is absolutely true. Taking a story from its beginning to the final stage became my responsibility. Throughout that journey, I had to make several difficult decisions. I learned not only to stand by the decisions I made but also to change them when necessary.
Ultimately, our only goal was to take this series exactly where we wanted it to go. The biggest thing I learned during this journey is that while making decisions can be difficult, it is important to make the right decisions at the right time. I am eagerly looking forward to audiences watching the trailer of ‘#Love’ and, eventually, the entire series.”
Director Balaji Mohan said:
“Love is something that no one in the world can completely understand. That is why I keep telling stories about love. Men understanding women and women understanding men is a journey that has continued for generations. Even after many more years, we may never completely understand love, and that is what makes it special.
I do not keep talking about love because I know everything about it. In fact, I do not completely understand love either. Like everyone else, I am also constantly trying to understand it. That is what always keeps love interesting and fresh. That is why I continue to have the desire to tell love stories on screen.
It makes me happy when audiences say that they learn many things about love from my work. At the same time, I am careful not to create expectations in real life based on the love stories shown in films. As much as possible, I try to make my stories close to reality while also giving audiences something they can dream about and relate to.
That is how we have created ‘#Love’ as well. We have tried to tell this story by combining some dreams about love with emotions that are close to real life. I hope audiences will be able to relate the series to their own experiences when they watch it.”
Following this, both actors were asked questions on whether chemistry or compatibility is more important in love in the ‘#Love’ series.
Arjun Das, who plays Matthew in ‘#Love’, was asked whether he would be friends with Matthew if he were a real-life person. He said:
“I might be friends with him to talk about the adventures he goes on, such as mountain climbing. At the same time, there may be certain things about him that I would not like. What attracted me most to the character of Matthew was his emotions and the vulnerable side he reveals in the story.”
Speaking about her character Tara, Aishwarya Lekshmi said:
“Playing Tara was very liberating and enjoyable for me. I can relate to Tara by about 80 percent. Many times, I was not even acting; I was simply being the character. Unlike some of the characters I have played, Tara is not very far removed from who I am. That made portraying her very natural. I also had a desire to act in a love story, and ‘#Love’ gave me a great opportunity to do so.
I was supposed to act with Arjun in a film earlier, but that did not happen, and I was disappointed. However, I am very happy that ‘#Love’ has happened now. Sometimes, good things take time to happen.”
The two actors were then asked several questions about whether chemistry or compatibility is more important in love in the ‘#Love’ series. Both shared their perspectives on what constitutes chemistry and what constitutes compatibility. When specifically asked about a good kiss, both said that chemistry and compatibility are equally important.
When asked which of the two is more important in real-life love, Arjun Das said that compatibility is more important. He explained that chemistry may last only for a certain period, while compatibility is essential for a relationship to continue.
Aishwarya Lekshmi, on the other hand, shared her view that chemistry develops first and the relationship then moves towards compatibility. Both actors shared their respective perspectives. When specifically asked about a good kiss, both reiterated that chemistry and compatibility are important.
In today’s world, love no longer necessarily begins with meeting someone in person. With dating apps, relationships can begin digitally through swipes, matches and messages. ‘#Love’ has been created around this transformation in modern love and relationships.
Director Balaji Mohan has established a distinctive storytelling style for himself in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi? and later directed Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, Maari and Maari 2. His style of approaching love, young people’s lives and modern relationships with natural humour has created expectations for ‘#Love’ as well.
The story of ‘#Love’ revolves around two dating apps, FOUND and Find My Bae. Tara and Matthew, the founders of these two dating apps whose profession is helping others find the right partners, are unable to find love for themselves. The relationship, romance and clashes of opinions that develop between the two rivals form the central aspect of the story.
‘#Love’ has been written by Nirmal Williams, with Sharada Subramanian and Swetha Chakravarthy serving as co-writers. The series is produced by May6 Entertainment Factory.
With the trailer now released, expectations are building around how Balaji Mohan has approached the love and relationships of the modern generation, how the Arjun Das–Aishwarya Lekshmi pairing has worked out, and what answer the series will offer to the question: “Chemistry or Compatibility?”
The ‘#Love’ web series, which explores various dimensions of relationships including love, friendship, family and ambition, will premiere on Netflix from October 2.
