Couple Friendly: How this Telugu romantic drama is the warm hug Tollywood needed

Couple Friendly is a tender Telugu film that explores young love in all its quiet, messy and real moments. With no loud drama, it taps into the confusion and comfort of modern relationships, with Santosh Sobhan and Manasa Varanasi in lead roles.

A few days ago, I was craving the hit of a Sekhar Kammula film – you know, the kind that tugs on every romantic string in your body. On the outside, you can pretend to be a total baddie, rolling your eyes at butterflies-inducing romance, love that sweeps you off your feet, daydreaming about your wedding day in a pattu saree, or walking along the banks of the Godavari River, hand in hand with the love of your life.

But deep down? You sleep to these thoughts. They replay in your head like a comfort playlist. You imagine, reimagine, and if you’re Telugu, you’ve definitely, at some point, pictured yourself as Anand from Anand or Seetamahalakshmi from Godavari. You’ve cast yourself as the hero or heroine of your own love story.

Don’t argue with me on this, I know I’m right. And that’s exactly the mood I was in when I hit play on Couple Friendly.

It doesn’t begin with fireworks. No dramatic slow-motion entry, no violins screaming “this is love.” Instead, it eases you in, like a conversation you didn’t expect to matter but somehow ends up staying with you.

Shiva (played by Santosh Sobhan) and Mithra (played by Manasa Varanasi) don’t meet in a cinematic, larger-than-life way. Their story starts in the most unassuming manner, almost like two people just crossing paths. Talking. Existing in the same space. And then, without any announcement, those conversations begin to mean something.

You know that phase, right? When you don’t realise when a person becomes your person. When texting them becomes a habit, when sharing random updates feels necessary, when silence with them is no longer awkward but safe.