Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Movie Review : Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui breaks stereotypes and thoroughly entertains
STORY Manvinder Munjal aka Manu (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a fitness sucker who owns a spa, and a bodybuilder who competes time on time to win the original crown. While he’s concentrated all his powers on sweating it out and erecting his dole-shole for that (with little luck), his spa business sees far and many footfalls. Until walks in, the head- acrobat, Maanvi Brar (Vaani Kapoor), the spa’s recently appointed Jhoomba ( read Zumba), educator. Soon enough, sparks fly and the two are drawn into a passionate relationship. But there’s further to Maanvi than the gorgeous woman that she is. And that forms the crux of the story.
REVIEW Love stories are love stories after all. Substantially, boy-meets- girl, some love, mush- gush, conflict, makeup or bifurcation, and end of the story. Well then, boy does meet girl, too, but she has a history (not the cliché affair, marriage, child out of connubiality or felonious history), that becomes hard for Manu, with all his manhood, to bear. Without giving down much ( Story Idea credited to Simran Sahni), let’s say that Maanvi has dauntlessly battled all odds, and‘ converted’into a new person, someone she has always fretted to be. While she feels delivered and is proud of her new identity, and one that’s true to her real tone, will society and her family embrace her choice and accept her for what they call,‘not normal’in their veritably normal world Director, Abhishek Kapoor, does n’t beat around the backcountry and gets to the point directly and snappily. After introducing Manu, his musketeers and his family, he lets us into Maanvi’s world, sluggishly and subtly revealing her history. While preparing us for Maanvi’s exposures, he’s also readying us for Manu’s original unbelief, shock and horror at discovering further about the girl he’s so intensively in love with. And when the moment arrives, he handles it finely, without too important dramatisation or theatrics – in performance or discourses.
While Abhishek maintains light-hearted humour in utmost situations, he handles the hard- hitting reality of the subject with perceptivity and maturity. He lays it all out – people’s crude and outrageous response on learning the verity about the subject, our general lack of knowledge and information on a matter that needs to be addressed, and the way our society is sprucely divided on the conception of being‘inclusive’, and giving every existent the liberty to be who they’re and what they want to be. Abhishek does it with tactfulness and weaves in humorous punches – soft and gentle, nothing too heavy- weight. Credit also goes to Supratik Sen and Tushar Paranjape for their honest and relatable script and discourses, which is apparent in several scenes. Be it the Munjal family pushing Manu’s to get wedded, his companion father (Girish Dhamija) staying to marry his Muslim gal, Maanvi’s father (Kanwaljit Singh) being probative of her choices indeed though her mama explosively disapproves, or Manu’sover-the-top sisters poking in all of Manu’s matters — there is noway a dull moment, nearly all scenes as tight as Manu’s six- pack and bulging biceps.
The performances then are‘tip-top’! Ayushmann Khurrana gets into the skin of the character (literally!). Watch out for his superphysical makeover. He portrays Manu impeccably, and well, that fact that he’s in reality a Chandigarh boy, must have surely helped crack it. He looks, walks and talks the part.
Vaani Kapoor sinks her teeth into her character from the word go and gives a no-holds- barred performance. Vaani and Ayushmann not only look great together, but also partake fiery chemistry onscreen Goutam Sharma, Gourav Sharma (as Manu’s binary musketeers) are ridiculous, Aanjjan Srivastav (Manu’s forefather), Kanwaljit Singh, Tanya Abrol and Girish Dhamija play the supporting corridor veritably well Bindiya Chhabria’s product design is vibrant and photographer Manoj Lobo has beautifully shot this odd love story. Chandan Arora’s editing is crisp. Sachin-Jigar’s soundtrack with lyrics by Priya Saraiya, Vayu and IP Singh take the narrative forward. Though the Holi song originally seems to appear suddenly, it serves as an apt detector to move Manu and Maanvi’s love in top gear In a post Covid period, where we’re scuffling with what’s the new normal every day of our lives, it’s time we dig deep and question what’s‘ normal’ really. Have we tone-created morals and normality, to feed the requirements of many in the world who are trapped in this false sense of what’s normal? Is n’t it time to shake effects up a bit, move out of the comfort zone and break the impediment of conceptions? Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui does that, while still leaving you comfortably entertained.
