Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Forget "Bond" and watch Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana this weekend!

Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, directed by Sameer Sharma is one of the most fun-filled and entertaining films to be churned out in Bollywood in recent times. It is tough to digest but this whacky little recipe of comedy actually comes from Anurag Kashyap, Bollywoods master of the dark side.

Its probably the first time in Bollywood that a director has taken food as his storyline and come up with such a unique and powerful film! Any movie made against the backdrop of a Punjabi household is expected to have a lot of band baaja and masti, and Sameer does not disappoint you one bit! he succeeds in uniting the different characters and instilling loads of humour in it.

On one level, the film belongs to the flourishing genre of idiosyncratic slice-of-life narratives and character-driven dramas set in the north Indian heartland of Delhi and its environs (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Dev D., Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Do Dooni Chaar, Rockstar and Vicky Donor). 

On another, it harks back fondly to the era of innocence represented by the middle-of-the-road comedies that the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee once made with great distinction and flair.

Story

Omi Khurana (Kunal Kapoor) has just returned to his hometown in Punjab from London. Well, to be more precise, he escaped from London to save himself from a dangerous U.K. gangster (Munish Makhija) to whom he owes a lot of money to!

After returning to his hometown, Omi pretends that he is a well-settled lawyer in London. On his return, he finds that The family dhaba, which thrived on serving Chicken Khurana, has been shut down because his grandfather (Vinod Nagpal) has forgotten the secret recipe of Chicken Khurana. The dish had made the Khurana dhaba popular across Punjab.

Omi realises his key to big money lies in reviving the dhaba, but for that he needs to bring Chicken Khurana back on the menu.

Things get complicated when his grandpa dies. Worse, his childhood sweetheart Harman (Huma Qureshi), is set to get married to his cousin.

Those are reasons enough to cook up a Bollywood screenplay, but debutant director Sameer Sharma and his co-writer Sumit Bhatheja throw in an eccentric prop cast and situations to push the plot.

Music by Amit Trivedi is different and very offbeat, Camera by Mitesh Mirchandani is excellent as he has captured the lush greenery of Punjab very well. The script becomes a little sluggish in between. A little more crisper editing could have been done. That is perhaps the only minus in the film! 

Performances

Every actor stands out in performance. Kunal Kapoor and Huma Qureshi strike good chemistry. Rajendra Sethi and Vinod Nagpal as always are outstanding,  However, it is Rajesh Sharma who undoubtedly walks away with the cake. What an actor, and what a performance! Rajesh has a way of connecting with the audience and bringing the house down with his natural expression and sense of humour. Watch out for him!