Rediff
Film review ·
10.0
It is a must watch film, a once in the lifetime kind of work that should be supported by film lovers and experienced on the big screen.
Labour of Love
out of 10
Recommendedmost critics liked it
Monk Score · 3 scored reviews · 5 not ratedWeighted from a 7.7 average · Why?
A quietly crafted portrait of love in routine, even if it holds back too much.
Verdict tier Recommended, most critics liked it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
- Praised: sensitive cinematography and visual craft
- Criticised: excessive restraint leaves narrative underexplored
Audience
User score 8.0 out of 10 from 2 ratings, not enough ratings for a verdict yet
Read 1 audience review ↓Not streaming in India
Top cast
Critic consensus
What 8 critics are saying
Critical reception for Labour of Love is largely positive, with most reviewers recommending it as an example of accomplished parallel cinema. Critics most frequently praised the film's visual and aural craftsmanship, its use of silence and cross-cutting to convey a couple's love through domestic routine, and its sensitive cinematography. The primary criticism, raised by a few reviewers, concerns the film's deliberate restraint leaving too much unexplored — particularly the emotional and economic specifics of its characters — and one critic found the ending a significant misstep that undercuts the film's promise.
How the 3 scores spread
5 not-rated reviews aren't plotted
The Monk Score is weighted from a plain average of 7.7 · how scores work
Positive / mixed / negative reviews
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 8 critic reviews · may contain errors
Report inaccuracyFrom the papers
Critic reviews (8)
Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Times Of India
Film review ·
7.0...it's surely a film you shouldn't miss. It will remind you how actions can speak louder than words.
Outlook
Film review ·
6.0...Sengupta fashions a lovely tale of love in times of recession. It's about routinised work lives, the loneliness of living in shifts in your own homes, of being a family, yet not knowing the pleasures of eating and living together. But hope lives.
BookMyShow
Film review ·
How patient are you when it comes to films? This isn't a fast-paced honey-dipped story of love where the couple sings or dances. Everything about Labour of Love is artsy. If you love watching parallel cinema, Labour of Love has the right elements. Also, get a big tub of popcorn for this one.
Firstpost
Film review ·
From the storytelling point of view, the end of Labour of Love is a frustrating and critical misstep because it takes a gorgeously promising film and turns it into a disappointment. Still, despite this, Labour of Love is memorable, mostly for its sensitive cinematography, but also because Sengupta was brave to trust his camera, actors and soundscape to tell a story. Labour of Love is quintessentially arty, but this time around, it's not a bad thing.
Indian Express
Film review ·
The international accolades it is winning across festivals are well deserved. Please do watch the film to enjoy the beauty of silence in a world gone chaotic with cacophony.
LiveMint
Film review ·
Labour Of Love is one of the most visually and aurally striking films in recent years, but you have to wonder whether there's enough going on within scenes to justify all that it chooses to leave out. The film makes it clear that there's a recession going on, but we don't know how this is affecting our couple—whether they're both working because they have to pay the bills, or if that's the way they prefer it.
The Hindu
Film review ·
Through cross cuts, the cyclical nature of the narrative expresses itself. You don't really need to be physically present to express your love. Here it come through the washing and cooking that one does for the other and in between both of them yearn for that meeting that happens at the end of the day. Or is it at the start of the new one! Sengupta has given those moments a dreamy treatment but even in that reverie the couple doesn't lose touch with the ground. Have the pressures of job turned them mechanical in their romance? Oh! Not quite. It is as tender as the first kiss. Go check!
From our readers
Audience reviews (1)
2 ratings · user score 8.0
- Shashwat SisodiaOct 20199/10
Aditya Vikram Sengupta's 'Asha Jaoar Majhe' is a little Bengali wordless film about two people, 'The Man' and 'The Woman'. They are husband and wife, living in what seems to be an ancestral home. Woman works in a Jute bag factory during the daytime. It is when the man is home. He buys fish, and cooks. He takes a bathe. He sleeps. He dreams. When the woman is back, man has gone. He works in a printing press in night shifts. She eats, washes her face. Actually, this film is their daily lives. But these activities are textured and emoted with a satisfactory emptiness. And their is a blooming romance between the couple, as it meets when the man comes home and the woman has to get ready for her work at the same time. Its when their love story genuinely moves you. At that, the film is extremely well-written and well-acted: the performances by Basabadatta Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty well-render some tunes into the odd silence they share.
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