Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Review: Ayushmann Khurrana Movie Comes Off As Oddly Generic

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Review: Ayushmann Khurrana Movie Comes Off As Oddly Generic

What happens when brash Chandigarh munda Manu Munjal (Khurrana), weightlifter, body-builder, protein-ingester, keto (pronounced, quite properly by such a one, ‘kitto’) dieter falls in lust with the very ‘soni Ambala kudi’ Maanvi Brar (Vaani Kapoor)? Well, for starters, lots of sex.

Yes, that very thing that too many Bollywood rom coms still act stupidly coy about. Full marks to Khurrana and Kapoor for going at each other with a great deal of enthusiasm, presenting us with a tangle of bodies which makes their energetic couplings quite convincing.

She is all legs and slender arms and gentle-swell-of-bosom; he is all bulging biceps, shaved sides of head, and a high ‘pony’. She is a Sector 4 type (Chandigarh denizens will get the in-joke; for the rest, ‘Sector 4’ is where the classy, cool, old-moneyed types live). She says Zumba, he says Joomba. He farts, she makes a delicate face. You get the drift.

While we are busy applauding this welcome exhibition of passion between two consenting adults, there’s a sudden spike in the works. Maanvi has a deep, dark secret, and once that comes tumbling out, harsh words are exchanged, and there is a rift in the lute.

Abhishek Kapoor’s film, which is about how love is love, hello gender fluidity, differences be damned, is on to something. Even in 2021, Bollywood prefers playing safe and keeping all tricky subjects at bay. On that score, getting in a trans person as romantic plot point is an act of courage. But Kapoor is also careful, one might say a little too careful, and wraps everything up in jokey stereotypy. But if you are so worried about potentially alienating your viewers, you are also likely to dilute the heft of your subject. So you go ahead and insert words like ‘chakka’ (ugh) so that you can get your hero to push back against it and feel very noble. But to use ‘paagalon ka doctor’ for psychiatrists? Really?

Manu is given two nosey sisters who are so heavy-handed about his welfare that you itch to tell them to shut up. He has a widowed father in love with a woman from, gasp, a minority religion: the film slips in a muttered line about Hindu-Musalmaan amity. He has not just one BFF, but two, twins who surround him with ‘faadu Punjabbi’ lines, all hearty and coarse. These are familiar elements into which you can insert the love with trans person angle, and wait with bated breath. Will we accept it? Or walk away from it?

Well, we have news. We grew up when Bollywood wasn’t looking. So while it’s brave that there can be a line like ‘aadmi wali shakal ki aurat’, for a woman who was a man before the sex-change operation, a mention of ‘bi’ people, a little speech on what constitutes ‘normal’, and the presence of a clearly butch person, the whole doesn’t really add up to a film with any surprises: you know exactly what will happen at each beat. The film does go down a path no mainstream Bollywood film has dared to, and yet comes off oddly generic.

Which is a pity. Kapoor himself knows how to mine a story: his ‘Kai Po Che’ is still a favourite. Khurrana, Chandigarh boy for real, is right at home in his bristly-brawny-softie Manu, Kapoor’s svelte certified physical trainer with a troubled past takes you back to the flash of promise she had shown in ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’: the film didn’t need so much overused stuffing because these two seem quite willing to go the mile. In the end, he is the macho man beating other muscle-bound men in a competition of full-blown testosterone; she is just another girl willing her man to bring the trophy home.

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui movie cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Vaani Kapoor, KanwaljeetChandigarh Kare Aashiqui movie director: Abhishek KapoorChandigarh Kare Aashiqui movie rating: Two and a half stars

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Box Office Prediction: Ayushmann Khurrana Film To Mint Rs 4-5 Crore On Day 1

© Provided by The Indian Express

Abhishek Kapoor's Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is all set to hit theatres on Friday. The trailer of the film, starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor in the lead roles, hinted at a gender-bending romance. Despite it not being a typical commercial Hindi drama, film trade analysts are hopeful that Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui will get a good start at the box office.

As per film producer and film business expert Girish Johar, the movie "looks very promising. The songs are spot on and the trailer has been appreciated. After the pandemic, we have witnessed an onslaught of commercial films but this is something different". He also believes Ayushmann will attract the audience to cinema halls since he has delivered several hits in the past.

Also read |Abhishek Kapoor recaps his cinematic journey: ‘What your failure teaches you, your successes will never teach you’

"Also, Ayushmann is coming after a long time. Before the pandemic, he had back-to-back hits to his credit. He has always delivered different kind of cinema. With his films, he wants to convey a particular message comically," Johar added.

With Covid-19 restrictions still in place and theatres not operating in full capacity, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is expected to get a decent start at the ticket counters. Girish Johar shared, "The film is expected to open at Rs 4-5 crores. It may rise to Rs 6-7 crore if the word of mouth is good."

In the pre-pandemic scenario, Ayushmann Khurrana delivered hit after hit. Out of his 14 theatrical releases, he only failed thrice (Bewakoofiyaan, Hawaizaada and Meri Pyaari Bindu) in pulling the audience to cinema halls. Despite many small budget and unconventional releases, the actor managed to hold his own at the box office where stars are made and destroyed every Friday.

khurrana Ayushmann Khurrana in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. (Photo: Ayushmann Khurrana/Instagram)

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Talking about Khurrana's success mantra, Girish Johar said, "The audience knows he tries to break taboos with the kind of films he picks. He reaches maximum audience with his lighter roles and hence it is translating into box office numbers. He has been smart and successful in picking the right stories, which is being lapped up by the audience. With Ayushmann starring in a film, people know there would be something for them. He has a good pull at the box office which he has proved in the past."

Now, it remains to be seen if Ayushmann Khurrana's charm will once again make people queue up at the cinema halls or not.

Also starring Kanwaljit Singh, Gourav Sharma, Goutam Sharma and Abhishek Bajaj, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui hits theatres on December 10.

Ayushmann, Vaani-starrer 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui' Mints Rs 3.75 Cr On Day 1

Mumbai, Dec 11 (Ians) Actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor’s latest release ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ has raked in Rs 3.75 crore on the first day of its release. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the figures on Twitter. He wrote: “#ChandigarhKareAashiqui – targeted at metro multiplexes – records better numbers in #Delhi, #Ncr, #Chandigarh on Day 11