Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui Movie Review: Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, directed by Abhishek Kapoor, is the Ayushmann Khurrana dose that Bollywood has been missing for some time. The premise once again enters into a less-trodden territory for mainstream Bollywood cinema, like any of AK's recent movies. In a way it is also formulaic because of its star, though you would know it is a formula that had clicked with the audience. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui has its flaws, but it's the treatment and the intentions that earn the better for it. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui: Ayushmann Khurrana Steals Hearts With His Beautiful Rendition Of The Song Kalle Kalle.

Manu Munjal (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a fitness freak and a gym-owner, who aspires to be the body-building champion. He is instantly smitten with Maanvi (Vaani Kapoor), the hot Zumba teacher at his gym. who also reciprocates his feelings. They soon engage in a physical relationship, and it is much later that she reveals to him that she is trans. Being someone who is always high on testosterone (here's why the bodybuilder character adds a lot of context), Manu reacts badly to this revelation, even once rudely accosting her in the public, when his friends cast aspersions on his sexual identity. Maanvi takes his disgust to her heart, but like any AK movie, soon the protagonist and the film seek their path towards a predictable, but heartwarming awakening.

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For a change, it isn't Ayushmann Khurrana who should be lauded for choosing this movie. That die should fall on Vaani Kapoor for taking on a role that, while it comes with a separate problem, is applause-worthy for the risque involved. What I have an issue with is in the casting process.

Bollywood is miles behind Hollywood or other foreign industries when it comes to proper representation of LGBTQ+ characters. Scarlett Johansson had to let go off a role where she was to play a transgender after receiving backlash in 2019.

Eddie Redmayne now regrets taking on his Oscar-nominated role in The Danish Girl, because he feels that by accepting that role, he lost the opportunity to bring balance to representation. Our industry is not evolved to the extent of what Hollywood actors are thinking; we are still grappling with the ideas of how to best represent secularism in our movies (looking at you, Sooryavanshi). Even in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, there is a needless subplot involving the hero's widowed father (Girish Dhamija) who has been in love with a Muslim woman for years, but unable to get this relationship accepted by the family. This is treated in a humorous context at first, and is later made into a statement of acceptance.

Returning to Vaani's casting, yes, I wish they would have chosen a trans actor in that role. It would have not only lived upto the 'woke' intentions of the film, but also given a mainstream acceptance to LGBTQ+ actors in the leading categories. By not doing so, the movie can't acquit itself of taking a hypocritical stance.

Nothing on Vaani, though. It's a gutsy role for the actress, and she gives a career-best performance, here particular fantastic in the emotional sequences. It is a bravura act from her, and even besting her National award winning co-star in their combined scenes. However, if there was any inkling that Vaani is playing a trans person when Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui was announced, there could have been outrage over the casting. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui: Vaani Kapoor Claims the Film Is a Huge Milestone in Her Career, Says ‘It Has Really Pushed Me To Work Harder’.

But, let me be fair to both Vaani and the film, and think of Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui as Bollywood's baby steps towards a hopeful future of better acceptance and representation for the marginalised genders. A few years back, I was as guilty as Bollywood when it comes to seeing how it depicted such characters. I had laughed loudly when Riteish Deshmukh desperately cleansed himself after mistakenly kissing a trans woman in Masti.

Now I cringed when  Manu did the same here, in his case, his realisation comes after many bouts of lovemaking sessions. But this scene is (thankfully) not played for laughs. When a few characters, like Manu's twin besties (Gourav Sharma and Goutam Sharma, both quite natural) and his sisters (Tanya Abrol and Sawan Rupowali) use offensive slang for transgenders like chakka and hijra, it cringed me again. Not at the political incorrectness of those characters, but the movie reminded me that I was one of them once. Years ago, it was a fantastic but underrated gem as Onir's My Brother Nikhil that changed my skewed perception towards homosexual relationships. In a way, I could relate to Manu when he blamed his upbringing to his horrified reaction when he first learns of his lover's sexual identity.

Interestingly, a similar line is uttered by Neena Gupta in another Ayushmann-starrer, Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan, that also, unfortunately, has two straight actors playing gay characters. Like My Brother Nikhil.

What I could relate less, though, is when Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui focuses more on Manu's POV than Maanvi's. Ayushmann Khurrana has brilliantly nailed the physique, the body language and the emotional turmoil of the character. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, however, doesn't become a strong film when it focuses on him, in fact, it becomes a Khurrana stereotype here, of the characters coming to acceptance with with they see as abnormalities (the movie even turns into a docudrama of sorts at one point). It doesn't help that the scenes with his Punjabi family veers towards being loud, and stereotypical, especially after they find out about Maanvi.

On the other hand, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui works best when we get to see through Maanvi's view, and get to understand what she is going through, both physically and emotionally. There is a certain feel of sensitivity in how those scenes are written. While it is a mistake on Maanvi's part for not revealing about her sexual identity to Manu before they engaged in a relationship, it isn't hard to understand her craving for a romantic fulfilment. Her scenes with her father (an amiable Kanwaljeet Singh) and later, her mother, are quite touching. But the true heart of Chandigarh kare Aashiqui is how Abhishek Kapoor depicts the ups and downs of Maanvi and Manu's relationship when they are together in a frame. The romance goes through a predictable turn, but you still care for how the love story is depicted, and how in the end, the movie paves way for Maanvi to have the opportunity to accept rather than the other way round. With a runtime of about two hours, an audience-friendly narrative and an eclectic score from Sachin-Jigar, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui feels entertaining and contained.

Yay!

- Ayushmann and Vaani

- Their Scenes Together

Nay!

- Predictable Turns

- The Casting Dilemma

Final Thoughts

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is formulaic and wobbly in its intentions, but it still engages with its gutsy depiction of a convention-breaking romance and fantastic performances from Vaani and Ayushmann. While the casting is a sore point, hope Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui opens up Bollywood and its audience's mindsets about more powerful depiction of LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream cinema.

Rating:3.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 10, 2021 12:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).