Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui review: Ayushmann Khurrana-Vaani Kapoor’s film sensitively subverts LGBTQ+ stereotypes

3/5

Manu, a Chandigarh bodybuilder, falls in love with Maanvi, a Zumba instructor. Everything appears to be going swimmingly until a shocking revelation upends their love story.

For many years, Bollywood's stereotyping of the LGBTQ community has become the norm. It largely impacted the audience and also played a part in making them typecast onscreen. It's a new decade, and some unlearning has to be done. Better late than never, someone finally took a charge. Abhishek Kapoor's Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is that unlearning which everyone deserves to watch. After watching the trailer, the film proved, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

The trailer gave away a lot of details about the film, but it was just the first 15 minutes of the runtime. It's not an out-and-out comedy film, as it has been touted, but a film that deals with an important topic with the utmost sensitivity. The metaphorical approach in the script penned by Supratik Sen and Tushar Paranjpe needs to be well-appreciated and applauded. The brave attempt passed with flying colours only because the film stayed firm with reality.

The film starts with Manvinder Munjal, aka Manu (Ayushmann Khurrana) practising weightlifting for a competition he has been trying to win for a long time. Soon after, Maanvi Brar (Vaani Kapoor) makes an entry, and it soon establishes her identity. The actor has an Ardhanarishvara frame at home. She goes to a clinic to fix her facial hair and also joins a dating app but is unable to choose between being a "woman" or "non-binary".

They both have a meet-cute, and there's a mutual attraction right away. However, Maanvi is apprehensive, knowing that she could be rejected on hearing her truth. And of course, it happens. But the film is not just about that.

Unlike in every Ayushmann film, this time, the "problem" doesn't lie within him; he is the one who is the "scapegoat" here. And he feels like one too. Manu's character resembles society at large and how one decides to deal with it when the harsh truth bomb is dropped on him. That's the metaphor approach I was talking about. The first half of the film ends in quick succession and even reveals that Maanvi is undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

The sensitivity and the reaction to the situation have both been so beautifully shot that you will feel discomfort while watching the sequence. The transphobic trait is gut-wrenching to watch, and the word "chakki," (a slur for trans people) which is said by Manu's twin friends (Riz and Jomo), Gourav Sharma and Gautam Sharma, will make you cringe then and there. But that's the harsh and changing world we are living in.

But the first half will leave you engrossed and not let you take your eyes off the screen. The film establishes itself well in the first half, and you wish you had not had an interval. But that's Bollywood. You divide a film more into pre-interval and post-interval scenes.

Even the consummation scenes between Ayushmann and Vaani have been aesthetically shot, and somehow you just feel happy for the latter, who has been living in a box for her whole life. The film educates and gives a basic knowledge of how science has advanced in terms of sex reassignment surgery. Yes, Abhishek took the brave responsibility of even imparting important information based on the trans community.

If these have been the good parts, the not-so-good part of the film is the entire climax sequence. It just puts the whole thing down instantly. Yes, the end of the film is predictable, but the whole approach is more caricaturish and disappointing.

Like in every film, eventually they made Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui an Ayushmann Khurrana story, and Vaani Kapoor was just a part of it. The second half highly depends on Manu's dealing with the whole situation, while Maanvi is shown as someone who puts her story only for those around her to react to it accordingly. Although Manu's story is educational, I wish it also had Maanvi's involvement in doing so.

As for performances, Ayushmann got a chance to play a Punjabi Munda based out of Chandigarh, where he hails from. Thus, it was easier for the actor to get into the skin of the character. It seemed to be the most challenging part was to look the part, as he is seen as a gym owner and bodybuilder. But even that's something to think about. Even his part is more about body transformation, but for a different reason.

My special thanks to Abhishek Kapoor for showing the actor side of Vaani Kapoor. The actor seemed to be in a cocoon after her debut with Shuddh Desi Romance in 2013. She has done a fantastic job in almost every sequence. Vaani has shown the burden and stress she carries on her shoulders for being a trans woman and just waiting for society to accept her. But she is not naive; she wants to fight her own battles and makes that clear to people around her too, especially Ayushmann.

That's what you call brilliant writing! Acceptance doesn't mean you need to handle or protect anyone; it's just about seeing them as any other person.

Even the supporting cast has done a good job, including Kanwaljit Singh as Brigadier Mohinder Brar (Maanvi's father), Aanjjan Srivastav as Manu's grandfather, Tanya Abrol as Preet and Sawan Rupowali as Meet, as Manu's hovering sisters. Girish Dhamija, like Manu's father, has a parallel plot going on. He is seen as a widower who wants to have an inter-faith marriage with a Muslim woman. But his fear of acceptance is also shown as an underlying concept in the film.

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui has all the Bollywood elements; romance, singing, dancing, drama, full-on! And it's something new for Abhishek, whose previous works include Rock On!, Kai Po Che, Fitoor, and Kedarnath. All three are more in the drama-based genre, but this film is a socio-rom-com.

I would recommend the film for dealing with the subject responsibly and not demeaning anyone. The film represents society as a whole and how important it is to educate oneself on the taboo subject.

Although Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui might find a better audience on OTT, the theatrical approach to this is an important decision made by the makers that needs to be acknowledged. While we’re glad this movie exists, we’re waiting for the time when we don’t have to watch cisgender actors take on these roles.