In Bollywood, there are actors and there are stars, Kartik Aaryan is definitely the latter. Say what you will about his previous movies (being derogatory towards women) and I would agree, but Bollywood’s latest star can carry a film on his own shoulders. His latest release, Luka Chuppi is no different. No, it isn’t derogatory towards women and Kartik doesn’t have a monologue, but it has enough dialogue baazi and ROFL moments for the audience to overlook the relatively weak writing.
The story is about a Guddu Shukla (Kartik), a local TV reporter of Mathura , who falls for a Hindu hardliner politician’s daughter, Rashmi Trivedi (Kriti Sanon). And while Guddu has been raised in a small town with middle-class and conservative values, Rashmi, is well read and well travelled.
Things start going south when Guddu proposes to Rashmi for marriage and she insists on getting into a live-in relationship instead. This, despite the fact that her own father, played by Vinay Pathak, is a Hindu hardliner who’s party workers are the ones stopping young lovers from even meeting in secret, let alone letting them get into a live-in relationship.
Kartik Aaryan’s performance will keep you glued to the screen while Kriti Sanon too brought the charm that we saw in Bareilly Ki Barfi. Aparshakti Khurana is impressive as Abbas, Guddu’s best friend and cameraperson. The three actors have excellent chemistry on-screen. Vinay Pathak ‘hindutva leader’ avatar is menacing while rest of the supporting cast too have done their bit.
But the stand out performance in this movie has been done by none of the aforementioned actors, rather it is Pankaj Tripathi who steals the show. This actor can do no wrong . We have witnessed him doing subtle comedy, now check him out being loud, absurd and completely clownish and I promise you, he is a riot.
However, no movie is perfect and neither is Luka Chuppi. While director Laxman Utekar does a more than efficient job overseeing the cinematography of the film, but the script is visibly, audibly and figuratively weak. The climax is underwhelming and the plot trivialises a rather controversial subject.
While, I give the filmmaker credit for his intent — to call out the Hindu hardliners that their self-proclaimed flag bearer attitude of being the protectors of Hindu culture, is nothing more than a political move and an election agenda, however, the execution of it in the film, is underwhelming. The tone of the film ends up trivialising the very issues that are polarising India and refraining its citizens from exploring a liberal state of mind.
Overall Thoughts
Look past the weak script and Luka Chuppi is a total laughter riot. The performances are strong, the humour for one is refreshingly different from Kartik Aaryan’s past movies. It is more situational than slapstick, though, don’t despair yet, there is enough one-liners as well, if that kind of humour floats your boat. I would recommend that you watch this movie in theatre, with a live audience, it really amplifies your viewing experience.
