Luka Chuppi


Luka Chuppi is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Laxman Utekar. Produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, it stars Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon and the film tells the story of a television reporter who cohabits with his headstrong intern. Chaos ensues when their traditional families assume them to be married to each other.
Principal photography for Luka Chuppi began in August 2018 and was completed the following month. It was released on 1 March 2019 and has grossed over worldwide.

Plot

The film starts with reporters asking film star Nazeem Khan if he is in a live-in relationship. When he replies he is, it causes a media uproar about how he is disrespecting India's culture and being a bad influence for the youth. The film shifts to the small town of Mathura, where Vishnu Trivedi, a failing politician wants a ban on live-in relationships because they are disgraceful and against India's conservative culture. His daughter Rashmi takes up an internship at a local news channel, and starts working with the channel's star reporter Vinod "Guddu" Kumar Shukla and his best friend, cameraman Abbas Sheikh. Guddu and Rashmi fall in love and Guddu proposes. Flustered, she says she is not ready for marriage and wants to get to know Guddu first. She suggests a live-in relationship to test their compatibility but Guddu doesn't want one, being slightly more traditional. Abbas suggests trying a live-in relationship during their 20-day business trip to Gwalior. The couple agree.
The three find an apartment to rent. Their neighbor Mrs. Srivastava however is suspicious and asks how long they have been married. On the spot, they mix up answers and Mrs. Srivastava, certain that they are living together without being married, calls for the neighborhood to oust them from the apartment. Guddu and Rashmi come up with fake photos of their wedding overnight to put around the house as proof. The next morning, the neighbors are shocked to see the wedding pictures and blame Mrs. Srivastava for accusing them. At the end of the 20 days, Guddu reaffirms his love for Rashmi and she says she is ready to marry him. Guddu's nosy relative Babulal sees the two together in public, follows them, sees the fake wedding pictures, and assumes that they eloped.
The next morning, Babulal brings Guddu's entire family to their house. His family is shocked and Guddu and Rashmi are unable to admit the truth. They go back to Mathura to tell Rashmi's father Vishnu. Vishnu decides that they should be thankful the two got married and weren't in a live-in relationship and after a quick wedding ceremony, sends Rashmi off. Rashmi goes to live with Guddu and his family because everyone thinks they are now married. Rashmi feels bad about such a big lie and she and Guddu decide to secretly get officially married. The two try multiple times but something or someone always gets in the way.
In their last attempt, they try to get married in an anonymous public mass marriage event. Unfortunately, Vishnu is the chief guest. Guddu and Rashmi are caught as his family also shows up at the venue. Exasperated, they admit they are not married and had been in a live-in relationship. Guddu explains to Vishnu that the reason Vishnu keeps losing the elections is because the majority of the voting group is the new generation, who believe in modernity, and opposing their methods equals lack of support from them, making Vishnu lose the majority percentage of votes. He convinces Vishnu to stop opposing live-in relationships. Everyone finally gets Guddu and Rashmi married.

Cast

Principal photography for the film began in Gwalior on 1 August 2018 and was completed in Mathura in September 2018. The film was released on 1 March 2019. Bollywood Hungama put the film's estimated budget at crore, which included print and advertising costs. Box Office India estimated the film's budget as crore.

Marketing and release

The first poster of the film was released on 23 January 2019. The trailer of the film was released on 24 January 2019.
Producer Dinesh Vijan refused to release the film in Pakistan due to the 2019 Pulwama Attack. The film completed 50 days in the theatres on 19 April 2019.

Television premiere

Luka Chuppi garnered a solid 1.25 crore impressions becoming the third best television premiere film of the year.

Home video

Luka Chuppi was made available as VOD on Jio Cinema and in Netflix in June 2019.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Abhijit Vaghani and White Noise while the lyrics are written by Kunaal Vermaa, Nirmaan, Mellow D and White Noise. All the songs of the film are remakes of popular songs, thus making it a remix album.
"Poster Lagwado Bazar Mein" from Aflatoon was recreated for the film. It was sung by Mika Singh, Sunanda Sharma and rap by Nikhita Gandhi and released as Poster Lagwa Do.
"Coca Cola" by Tony Kakkar was remixed for the film. Re-sung by Tony with additional vocals by Neha Kakkar, the recreated version which was released as "Coca Cola".
"Photo" by Karan Sehmbi was recreated in Hindi for the film.
"Laung Laachi" by Mannat Noor was recreated in Hindi for the film. Sung by Tulsi Kumar, it was released as "Tu Laung Main Elaachi".
"Khaab" by Akhil was recreated in Hindi for the film. Re-sung by Akhil along with additional vocals by Dhvani Bhanushali, it was released as "Duniyaa".

Reception

Critical response

from Bollywood Hungama said, "A situational comedy with a message... Relatable premise, clean humour, foot tapping music, loads of entertainment... Superb climax... Kartik Aaryan top notch, Kriti Sanon damn good. Recommended!" Aashu Mishra from ABP News said, "Luka Chuppi is an easy breezy and crazy drama with an underlying layer of dark satire and social statement on moral policing and communal biases in small towns. The crackling chemistry between Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon is bang on and looks refreshing." Bollywood Hungama said, "Luka Chuppi is a funny take on the modern relationships laced with dollops of situational and funny moments. This clean comedy would get thumbs up not just from the youngsters but also from the family audiences. Kartik Aaryan once again is in a great form. His boyish looks work instantly but it's his performance that makes it even more endearing. Kriti Sanon has a fantastic screen presence and maintains a strong position. She also surprisingly shines in an important emotional sequence in the second half." Komal Nahta said, "Kartik Aryan does a fine job as Guddu. His acting is effortless and he is the best when he is helpless in the second half. Kriti Sanon looks very pretty and plays Rashmi ably. She has an endearing style which enables her to connect well with the viewers. Pankaj Tripathi deserves full marks for playing Babulal so effectively. It would not be wrong to say that he brings the house down with laughter each time he comes on the screen. Aparshakti Khurrana stands out in a relatively subdued role as Abbas. He is very entertaining in the second half." Filmfare said, "Kriti Sanon is spontaneous throughout and seems to be finding her feet in comedy, having a gala time of it all in the process. Kartik Aaryan displays wholesome charm and plays his part perfectly. Aparshakti instils the fun with minute shrugs and gestures and keeps it subtle but effective nonetheless." Faridoon Shahryar of Bollywood Hungama said, "Laxman Utekar's Luka Chuppi is a feel good entertainer that charms with its simplicity, cool music score and fine performances by Kartik, Kriti, Vinay Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurrana. It also raises some valid points about what India's youth really wants!"

Box office

Collecting, Luka Chuppi became the fourth highest opening day Bollywood grosser of 2019. Having collected and on its second and third days respectively, the film's opening weekend total became, thus making it one of 2019's highest opening weekend collection of a Bollywood film., the worldwide gross of the film is crore, with domestic gross of crore and overseas gross of crore. Thus, the film was a financial success.

Sequel

A sequel named Luka Chuppi Phir Se is set to be directed by Utekar. Produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, it tells the story of a couple going through divorce with the families being unaware. The film was planned to go into production in 2020, but the production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.