Loveyapa REVIEW: This phone swapping love story is all ‘pyaar’ and no ‘siyapa; Junaid Khan & Khushi Kapoor dial straight into audience hearts

Film:
Loveyapa

Director: Advait Chandan

Writer: Sneha Desai, Sidhant Mago and Pradeep Ranganathan

Cast: Junaid Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Kiku Sharda, Kullu

Runtime: 138 minutes (2 hours 18 minutes)

Platform: In theatres

Loveyapa Review

Bollywood has a new remake and unlike the others, it’s here to make you laugh your hearts out. Directed by Advait Chandan, Loveyapa is a remake of the 2022 Tamil hit Love Today and tells the amalgamation of love and siyapa – loveyapa. The film makes us experience the ups and downs Gaurav aka Babboo and Baani aka Baani boo (Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor, respectively) go through when the latter’s Sitar-playing, shuddh Hindi-speaking father Atul Kumar Sharma (Ashutosh Rana) switches their phones to test their trust and transparency in each other.

While what ensures is a rom-com that will have you laughing your hearts out, it also gives the audience a reality check about social media and staying true to oneself and their partner while in a relationship. Before you decide whether or not to watch Loveyapa in theatres this weekend, read our honest review.

What Works

The film has a blend of one-liners and monologues that will make you laugh your hearts out at time while also make you reflect on the deep meaning behind some dialogues. The relatable narrative is sure to click not only with the GenZ generation but also millennials who are in denial that they are in their 30s.

What Doesn’t Work

Given it’s a rom-com, the music could have been more catch as aside from the viral title track, nothing is worth remembering.

Technical Analysis

Story

Even though Loveyapa is a remake, its subject is fresh and will connect with youngsters as they navigate their relationships. Co-written by Sneha Desai (of Laapataa Ladies fame), Sidhant Mago and Pradeep Ranganathan, the plot is very relatable for today’s generation and manages to impart a good message without being preachy. The narrative addresses a variety of topics including privacy, trust, deepfake videos and cheating in relationships, however, the writing could have been a bit more refined.

Direction

While there is no doubt Advait Chandan has done a commendable job, we wish Loveyapa had something more that would have made it the perfect rom-com we have seen on the big screen in a long time. He has made the film keeping in mind today’s generation and this may limit the audience interested in going to theatres to watch it.

Editing

While the pacing of the film is not entirely slow, there are moments you wish the tempo would increase or the scene would be reduced by a second or two. However, the editor deserves brownie points for the montage he makes as the ‘kalesh’ starts unfolding and Rana’s character continues playing his sitar like the bua who lit the fire.

Loveyapa Music

The music of Loveyapa is nothing special. Aside from the film’s catchy title track, no other song or emotional background score lingers with you once the credits start rolling by. Given that it’s a rom-com, the music should have been much better.

Star Cast

Given that Loveyapa is both Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor’s second film (Khan and Kapoor made their acting debut digitally in Maharaj and The Archies, respectively), the actors have shown improvement in their craft. While Junaid manages to hold his own during several scenes – both solo and even when he’s alongside Ashutosh Rana, Khushi makes her way into the hearts of the audience with her infectious smile and doe eyes.

Khan – at 31, is a complete package of romance and comedy and reminds us of the 80s and 90s Aamir Khan. He commands every scene he’s in with a clear diction and stage presence we would expect from someone who has had years of training. He delivers his monologues too with conviction, making them more genuine and not like we see in other films. Khushi is a promising actress and is sure to keep improving as she features in more projects as her performance in Loveyapa is way more refined than what she was in The Archies.

Ashutosh Rana steals the show every time he appears onscreen. Be it while delivering words of wisdom like ‘repair things, don’t replace them’ and ‘while I know there is love, I wanted to know if there was trust’ or lightening up the scene by cracking jokes or ‘tipping’ the water delivery guy, the shuddh Hindi-speaking Ashutosh is the star.

Kiku Sharda in his limited role manages to make you go from ‘awww’ to ‘tsk-tsk-tsk’ seamlessly. The other supporting characters like Gaurav’s mom and sister, his friends and Bani’s sister also manage to do justice to their roles. The creeps too succeed in creeping you out.

Conclusion

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, kickstart the celebration of love with this film in theatres. It is sure to make you get more transparent in your relationship and maybe even take a social media detox – even if it’s just for a couple of hours. Also, if you want to know how to be secretive, Kiku’s Anupam ji has some tips.

We give the film a 3.5 star rating. Hope our Loveyapa review helps you in determining whether or not you should watch it this weekend.

Watch the trailer of Loveyapa here:

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