Director: Laxman Utekar
Star Cast: Kartik Aryan, Kriti Sanon,Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Vinay Pathak
Rating: 3 Stars
Off-lately Bollywood witnessed a number of small-town comedies like Stree, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan that were received well by the audiences. And joining the league now is Kartik Aryan-Kriti Sanon's take on a live-in relationship in progressive comedy Luka Chuppi. The movie hits the theatre this Friday and we bring to you the first review here.
Set in the backdrop of a small town Mathura, Luka Chuppi is a madcap adventure that is constantly projected into the narrative without losing grip over the comedy. The film doesn't try too hard to generate humour and never fails to amuse right from the beginning till the end.
Story: Guddu(Kartik Aryan) is the local television star reporter of a cable network in Mathura. Guddu falls in love with Rashmi (Kriti Sanon)daughter of ambitious local politician Vishnu (Vinay Pathak) Mathura’s self-appointed moral guardian. Vishnu wages war on couples who do not respect the sanctity of marriage.
The love story takes a turn when Guddu proposes to Rashmi for marriage and she insists on getting into a live-in relationship instead. Despite the fact that her own father, is a Hindu hardliner who’s party workers are the ones stopping young lovers from even meeting in secret, forget letting them get into a live-in relationship!
Review: Luka Chuppi is an easy breezy and crazy drama with an underlying layer of dark satire and social statement on moral policing and communal biases in small towns. Director Laxman Utekar has a keen eye for small-town quirks & charms that makes you feel connected and keeps the film real. He gets the mood right specially in the frequent aerial shots of the small-town rooftops.
The film tackles the topic of live-in relationships, it also offers several other subplots and social stigmas like religion, love jihad and ‘let love be’ as a passing reference but without getting preachy even once.
The way the Muslim film star at the film's prologue is treated for espousing live-in relationships and in the way characters react when the hero's Muslim friend is introduced, the film tells us we are a long way from getting away from our biases.
Talking about the lead pair, the crackling chemistry between Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon is bang on and looks refreshing. There are no kisses between Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon in this film and yet they look so romantic in every seen. Kartik Aaryan aces his small town boy role and his performance will keep you glued. The actor is the current heartthrob of the nation and his fans will get to see a new side of him. He wins through expressions and pauses too apart from his fun dialogue delivery.
Leading lady Kriti Sanon brings the charm that we saw in Bareilly Ki Barfi and looks beautiful and convincing as a modern small town girl however at times she is too polished with her perfect hair and designer suits but that can be ignored.
But the surprise element of the film is Pankaj Tripathi who once again proves that he is an actor par excellence. He completely steals the show and there's nothing that this actor can do wrong.We have witnessed him doing subtle comedy, and this time he got in the skin of a desperate middle-aged nose poking relative who is being loud, absurd and completely clownish but he will make you laugh out loud with his comic timing, expressions and body language.
Another actor who needs a special mention is Aparshakti Khurana, who plays the role of Guddu's sidekick Abbas, bang-on with his deadpan expressions. The bromance between Kartik and Aparshakti's character also leaves you amused.
Vinay Pathak as Kriti Sanon's onscreen father and ‘hindutva leader’ looks menacing. The film’s USP is it's stellar supporting cast, from the mother to the father and even the brother-in-law and neighbour, every character seems to have been picked up from our daily life.
Over all Luka Chuppi is a complete popcorn entertainer and if you have waited long for a tongue in cheek comedy then go for this one.
Watch the trailer below: