‘Luka Chuppi’ is the Right Kind of Mindless Comedy

Kartika Aaryan and Kirti Sanon’s Luka Chuppi is a pleasant watch. The ensemble also keeps you entertained.

Watch RJ Stutee’s review of this Friday release Luka Chuppi. 

(Photo: The Quint/Shruti Mathur)

The phrase ‘mindless comedy’ is bandied around a lot these days. It’s a convenient term to defend a lot of films where the collective IQ of its characters is at times as low as the room temperature. Leave your brains at home! Don’t go looking for sense everywhere! Why can’t you just have a good time? These are some remarks that greet those of us who rarely manage even a chuckle or two while watching such films.

So to describe Luka Chuppi, ‘mindless comedy’ is the phrase I’m going to borrow but in the nicest way possible. It isn’t high on any sense. The story telling is simplistic and formulaic. But the proceedings are easy on the eyes and the general mirth is infectious.

Guddu Shukla aka Kartik Aaryan is a local news TV reporter. It’s a channel that seems to have one boss and one reporter and a single camera person — Guddu’s best friend Abbas (Apaarshakti Khurrana). Their preoccupation in such politically charged times is very cute – what do people think of live-in relationships. The assignment gets them close to Rashmi Trivedi (Kriti Sanon), the daughter of a certain Sanskriti Raksha Mantra Chief (Vinay Pathak).

As we already know from the trailer, love blossoms between Guddu and Rashmi and then the question is about whether to move in together and test waters or take the plunge right away.

Luka Chuppi plays it extremely safe. There isn’t anything radical or revolutionary about exploring the non-shaadi side of things. It’s mindless in the way it doesn’t take itself seriously and almost dodges the issue it wanted to address in the first place. Except a few times, when it pokes fun at hardline Hindu groups that banish lovers in the name of sabhyata and sanskriti.

Luka Chuppi wants a big fat wedding with some Bollywood-style naach gaana thrown in! But in the music department, certified hits have been repackaged and remixed. And yet, one feels like overlooking all these shortcomings simply because the lead pair exude charm and the ensemble cast includes some terrific actors.

Pankaj Tripathi as the troublemaker and Apaarshakti Khurana as the firefighter are super. The latter’s deadpan expressions brighten up the screen each time. If only the two had longer screen time Lukka Chuppi would have been so much fun.

Kartik Aaryan has been denied his signature breathless monologues but his earnest good boy expressions as he tries to handle his parivar and proxy patni, is quite entertaining. The chemistry between him and Kriti Sanon is quite genuine. She for her part is vivacious and high spirited throughout.

Could the makers have pushed the envelope a little to show us what living in together actually entails? Of course! But as things stand can we still enjoy Luka Chuppi? Most definitely!

I would like to give Luka Chuppi 3 Quints out of 5!