As happy as one is to cheer for her global star status, I wish PC’s choice of projects was more topical than stale formula, sighs Sukanya Verma.

Give me Priyanka Chopra Jonas clobbering away in a cheeseball action series over moping around in a silly, schmaltzy, romance that’s long past its shelf life.

As happy as one is to cheer for her global star status, I wish PC’s choice of projects was more topical than stale formula.

Akin to those corny Christmas love stories inundating Netflix at that time of the year or a Modern Love episode that would find a bottom spot in a ranked best to worst list, Love Again can barely even shrug off the monotony within its title.

 

Set in, yawn, New York City, this remake of the German drama SMS für Dich is about an illustrator Mira Ray (Priyanka) struggling to move on after her beau’s untimely death.

She’s the kind of doe-eyed cutie whom kid sister (Sofia Barclay) set up dates for and fast food joint runners name their burgers after.

Enter British hunk Rob Burns (Sam Heughan), a music reviewer assigned a work phone and ballad queen Celine Dion’s profile.

Serendipity strikes when Mira’s lovey-dovey messages meant for her deceased boyfriend end up on Rob’s new device.

Sentiment heavy romances like Message in a Bottle and P.S I Love You have covered this premise adequately, but Love Again‘s skin-deep passions don’t even try to match any emotional expectations.

Instead, you have Mira texting away into oblivion stuff like, ‘I would do anything to be naked with you right now.’ Expectedly, it gets Rob’s instant attention.

Dumped by his fiancée a week before their wedding, dating is the last thing on his mind until the last word on love and loss decides to intervene and play Fairy Godmother.

The voice of heart-breaking chartbusters like My Heart Will Go On, Because You Loved Me, It’s All Coming Back To Me Now and All By Myself, Celine Dion acts as a self-appointed love guru to Rob and their interview sessions end up looking like therapy.

Cliches are alright if treated with wit and charm but Love Again‘s done-to-death ways are too busy ticking off the usual stereotypes — gay colleague, curly haired know-it-all, gregarious, sister… — and waste every opportunity to have fun around Celine Dion’s diva or Nick Jonas in a cameo as PC’s disaster date.

For humour, Mira confuses Seal the singer for an animal.

For wisdom, characters spout lines like love has a plan for each and every one of us or love is a mystery.

For connection, characters bond over Air Jordans (you’re better off watching Ben Affleck’s movie about the sneaker’s origins on Amazon Prime Video this week).

For conflict, it’s the ancient old gripe — you lied to me.

Everybody knows where this is going except Priyanka and Sam’s chemistry-bereft reunion.

Love? Not so much. Again? Indeed.

Love Again Review Rediff Rating:



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