Chennai, India – Once More, directed by an emerging filmmaker, is a delightfully messy romance that defies easy categorization. The film, starring Arjun Das and Aditi Shankar, is a neatly narrated “whodunnit” about a man, the person who killed him, and the one that brought him back alive. Shuffling between the naive optimism of a Vineeth Sreenivasan film and an ultra-messy Gautham Menon romance, the film is a wonderfully frustrating experience that showcases a new side of Arjun Das.
The story follows Raghuvaran (Arjun Das), a man who can barely be called alive—a corpse just capable of walking and talking. When he meets Anjali (Aditi Shankar), a vibrant woman who appears to be the polar opposite of him, the film enters a tense romance. Anjali seems to be inflating him with oxygen, but there’s a worry she might inflate him too much. The film contrasts their personalities through costumes: Anjali in bright colors, Raghu in tight, formal attire. It’s only when someone from Anjali’s world attempts self-harm that Raghu feels alive again, and the film primes us for the Raghu that once was.
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The film detours into a wonderfully frustrating stretch when a new entrant introduces intense emotional turmoil. This character, with abandonment issues, makes you feel the film with renewed intensity, and Arjun Das is indistinguishable as the two versions of Raghuvaran—the grump and the happy lover boy. Aditi Shankar finds a new way to play a character that comes with easy comparisons. Hesham Abdul Wahab’s incredible score adds to the film’s emotional depth. Once More is a neatly narrated and ably performed romance that explores the complexities of love, loss, and identity, leaving audiences with a poetic and haunting aftertaste.
