'Luka Chuppi' has a surprising script- it doesn't overbring its themes of Islamophobia, ghoonghat system relevant still in the north Indian small towns, the liberal heart of live-in opinions and uses a striking location- Mathura, where the couple in question lives in. The story of live-in is overwrought, over-simplistic, too complex and insanely silly. But Kartik Aaryan and Laxman Utekar work for creating a film that's an entertaining small town comedy somehow. Rest, all is a drag. Especially when the film wants to be a feel-good, sweet one. And surely, when it sermonizes and teaches about freedom of a love story.

Director Laxman Utekar gets a lot of things right in Luka Chuppi (Hide and Seek), a comedy drama that only gets better as you consume the narrative of a young couple as they try out the infamous life-in lifestyle for a few weeks before deciding to exchange vows. The conflict in the film, which is set in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, strikes a severe resemblance with real-life happenings in the state and elsewhere in India where live-in relationships are considered against the Hindu nationalist culture, Muslims are not shook hands with because they do not support the construction of Ram Mandir, and romance is generally seen as a sin. I enjoyed watching the narrative where writer Rohan Shankar referenced these real-life issues all too often to make the slightly exaggerated plot interesting. Of course, there are a few unrealistic threads sewn into this drama, but for a film that promises to keep you entertained with abundant humor, Luka Chuppi scores big. Everyone in the cast, notably Kriti Sanon, Karthik Aryan, and Pankaj Tripathi, do a wonderful job and bring out the best in the good writing that has gone into making this film. I sincerely recommend Luka Chuppi as a cool afternoon watch. TN.