Loveyapa

Loveyapa Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Junaid Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Grusha Kapoor, Kiku Sharda, Tanvika Parlikar

Director: Advait Chandan

What’s Good: A breezy, youthful tenor and a non-stop supply of lifelike humor with some subtle messages for Gen Z.

What’s Bad: A l-e-e-t-t-t-le far-fetched logic by one of the main characters, who is a dentist.

Loo Break: No, no!

Watch or Not?: It’s a no-brainer: Yes!

Language: Hindi

Available On: Theatrical Release

Runtime: 138 Minutes

User Rating:

Set in Delhi, this remake of the 2022 Tamil rom-com Love Today is about a young man, Gaurav, a.k.a. Gucci (Junaid Khan), who is going steady with Baani (Khushi Kapoor). The two have not yet disclosed their relationship to their families, and Baani even tells her musically-inclined advocate father, Atul Sharma (Ashutosh Rana), that she has won her new mobile phone (an ardent, even unaffordable-for-him gift from Gucci) in a lucky draw of sorts.

Gucci’s sister, the pretty Kiran (Tanvika Parlikar), is engaged to an overweight but successful dentist, Anupam (Kiku Sharda), who wins her over with his friendly consideration for her space and gentle decency.

When Baani’s father stumbles upon Baani-Gucci’s love story one day, again thanks to their mobile phones, he invites Gaurav to meet him. This leads to some hilarious interaction, and finally, he tells the youngsters that his only condition before they get hitched is that they should exchange their phones for 24 hours.

Initially trusting each other fully, the two do not mind this, even if they reluctantly agree to the switch. But the father insists they also open each other’s phones by revealing the passwords. And that makes all the difference! Both stumble upon each other’s exes and activities, and hell breaks loose. Baani finds that Gaurav watches p*rn, invites girls to send pictures for casting them, and so on, and Gaurav comes to know that she is in regular touch with some old boyfriends.

Meanwhile, Kiran finds that Anupam is also cagey about handing over his phone to Kiran or anyone else, and she gets suspicious. The last straw is a p*rn clip of Baani, which makes her father slap and almost disown her. At this crucial point in time, Gucci has already learned many life lessons and supports her. His loyal coterie of friends also exposes the culprit, who has been digitally stalking Baani and her sister and has made the deepfake video.

Loveyapa Movie Review: Script Analysis

The script is written by Sneha Desai (Laapataa Ladies, dialogues of Maharaj) from the original story by Pradeep Ranganathan. Sneha, as with Laapataa Ladies, fills the story with consistent lifelike humor and (as per the original as well as Laapataa Ladies) seamlessly works in messages galore, this time only for the younger generation.

“Repair, not replace!” is Atul Sharma’s advice to Baani over a broken phone screen. Gucci’s mother tells him that phones are changed every two years, not relationships. Jumping to (wrong and impulsive) conclusions on small pretexts, the lack of trust in someone we think we love, the quick and jerky somersaults in thought, doubting long-standing bonds, and last but nowhere least, the perils of the mobile phone and AI / Deepfake run like a potent thread within the narrative. I was told that the film is an almost ‘frame to frame’ remake of the original, but then Sneha packs a wallop as she did in Laapataa Ladies.

The nonstop supply of laughs (which never degenerate into mere gags) and humor make the 138-minute film a breeze to watch. Whenever the emotions, drama, and moments of ‘sorrow’ come in, we know that they are not only supporting and forwarding the story but will soon be replaced by at least a quip.

Just one nit-pick: overall, the reason why Anupam is reluctant to let his phone fall into the ‘wrong’ hands seems a l-i-t-t-le far-fetched, given everything else. But it is still acceptable as a kinky assumption by an otherwise normal character.

Loveyapa Movie Review: Star Performance

Outstanding performances bolster this laugh-riot, amping up the humor quotient again. Junaid Khan (Maharaj, the play Strictly Unconventional) clearly understands the difference between stage and screen requirements and delivers a flawless Gucci. His expressions also tend to turn ‘genetic’ even as they are dramatic—resembling father Aamir Khan’s a lot!

Khushi Kapoor, who effortlessly outclassed Suhana Khan in The Archies, again shows a believable performance as Baani. She may not yet match the expertise or charisma of her formidably talented sister, Janhvi Kapoor, but she comes close. I may be going a shade over-the-top, but for me, she is the simple girl-next-door that, in a different generation, Padmini Kolhapure was!

Ashutosh Rana is fantastic as Baani’s father. His expressions are classic, and his strict parent stops just on the right side of being a villain! Kiku Sharda steals the show with his measured performance. Tanvika Parlikar is effective as the confused Kiran, and as her mother, Grusha Kapoor (who tried becoming a heroine in the late 1990s!) is excellent. Great turns come in from the actors who play Gucci’s friends, led by Jason Tham as Bobby and Aaditya Kulshreshth as Lamba.